People power triumphs over Wall Street’s bid to end the protests mayor bloomberg and Brookfield Inc. back down on eviction world prepares for day of action Saturday October 15 in 950+ cities in 82 countries. We Are Winning!

NEW YORK, NY – Over 3,000 people gathered at Liberty Plaza in the pre-dawn hours this morning to defend the peaceful Occupation near Wall Street. The crowd cheered at the news that multinational real estate firm Brookfield Properties will postpone its so-called “cleanup” of the park and that Mayor Bloomberg has told the NYPD to stand down on orders to remove protesters. On the eve of the October 15 global day of action against Wall Street greed, this development has emboldened the movement and sent a clear message that the power of the people has prevailed against Wall Street.

“We are winning and Wall Street is afraid,” said Kira Moyer-Sims, a protester from Portland, Oregon. “This movement is gaining momentum and is too big to fail.”

“Brookfield Properties is the 1%. They have invested $24 billion in mortgage-backed securities, so as millions face foreclosure and eviction due to predatory lending and the burst of the housing bubble that Wall Street created, its not surprising they threatened to evict Occupy Wall Street,” said Patrick Bruner, an organizer with Occupy Wall Street from the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn. “But Brookfield and Bloomberg have backed down and our movement is only growing as the 99% take to the streets world wide to call for economic justice.”

The early morning announcement from the Mayor’s office in New York came after 300,000+ Americans signed petitions to stop the eviction, and flooded the 311 phone network in solidarity with those in Liberty Square. At 6 AM this morning, 3,000+ New Yorkers, unions, students, and others joined the occupiers in the square to send a clear message to the 1% who want to silence this peaceful assembly of the 99%. Donations poured into the protesters from Italy, England, Mexico and many other countries by everyday people hoping to help the movement grow.

“For too long the 99% have been ignored as our economic system has collapsed. The banks got bailouts and we’ve been sold out, ” said Harrison Schultz, business analyst from Brooklyn . “Wall Street’s greed has corrupted our country and is killing our planet. But today we celebrate victory and vow to keep fighting for justice and change on Wall Street, and in over 100 cities in the US and over 950 cities globally.”

On October 15th, Occupy Wall Street will demonstrate in concert over 951 cities in 82 countries and counting as people around the globe protest in an international day of solidarity against the greed and corruption of the 1%.

Occupy Wall Street is a people powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations on the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Italy and the UK, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people who are writing the rules of the global economy and are imposing an agenda of neoliberalism and economic inequality.

765 Comments

Today was a sad day for Occupy Denver. Colorado State Patrol forcibly removed occupiers from the site and arrested 23 people. They have also decided to close the park indefinitely, which may be a violation of the First Amendment right to peaceful assembly.

Also, this might be a good chance to set a precedent. If Occupy Denver could return to the streets as "Recall Hancock". I'm sure getting thrown the hell out after only 3 months would be humiliating to him. Also, remember that many protesters are registered Democrats and thus have more clout and connections within the party.

Scroll down to the second half of the page and you'll see all the members of the Denver Democrats that qualified for election in 2011, along with their phone numbers and e-mails.

We need to call and e-mail them expressing how unbelievably dissatisfied we are and swear to vote against them unless Michael Hancock makes a public apology. They'll likely listen since city representatives usually only win elections by a couple hundred more votes than their opponents.

Fight law with law. There are plenty of genius new law students getting screwed right now. They would take up the case, for the cause, right? the funny thing to me about 99% vs. 1% is that.. even they would place a bet on those odds.. make a freaking Tshirt.

I'm from the 99%. For sure. But I wanna point out that we're in the position to reach out to these "1%" folks. It's past late to parcel out blame individual by individual. Even more, what would it do?

If we can detach certain people from the ability to pour money into our government, I'd like to ask you to remember that at that point they become not only a part of the ordinary population again but a part of the market again.

Some folks in this 1% are, as we know, part of the 100%. In order for this to be a historic success, we have to create a real 100%, not dash the former 1% on the rocks to be picked at by vultures.

Whether or not him-her-or-the-other deserves a second or fifteenth chance is irrelevant. Having rehabilitated feral cats, I know that a fifteen pound animal attached to your hand by its teeth for the tenth time can, in fact, get with the program.

A lot of these folks are genuine. They genuinely believe they deserve where they're at and what they have. Maybe, for them, it's because their god or gods loves them, or maybe it's because they really did work their way to the top, or maybe they even lied, cheated and stole their way to the top but did it exceptionally well and have the pride of a craftsman.

It doesn't matter, because now is the time to repair our country, not pick a fight. Let's say one billionaire who invests in charity and the well being of his or her workers because of a heartfelt love of humanity. Another billionaire who does the exact same thing white quietly seething, reeking hate and resentment and regret. The one's a guy I'd have a beer with and the other's only looking out for #1. Well, good for both of them.

It doesn't matter if the 100% is acting from gooshy love feelings or rational self interest as long as the country is revitalized. So, I wanna ask ya'll to remember a healthy America is the goal and not SWEET REVENGE. <3

Getting back the trillions of dollars the 1% have sucked out of the economy's growth in the last 30 years would not be revenge, but justice! People who work smarter and harder should get and have more - but not 500 times more like American CEOs - maybe 10 times more than the people at the bottom. And remember that those over-compensated CEOs are just the hired gunslingers for the REAL wealthy, their stockholders.

You make some great points. There are some of the 1% who are intune to the 99%... Oprah Winfrey,Warren Buffet,Bill Gates,Russell Simmons to name a few. But you are AWARE that everytime they make a "charitable donation" they get a "TAX write off" because of the tax loopholes created to serve the purpose of the 1%. This legistration has been put in the tax laws by bought out elected officials who no longer to serve the 99%.

This is one of the main reasons the 99% have occupied wallstreet and varioues cities and towns around the country.

Our goverment has been "Hijacked" by the 1% and their corrupt banking and financial institutions.

BOA,GoldmanSachs and Wells Fargo is tops on the list of robbing the middle/working class.

Withdraw your funds from these robber barons and invest in a credit union near you or put your money under your mattress.

You are 100% right about everything you say except perhaps a couple of the people you mention. Near as I can tell, Oprah is a media tool, although I know saying that will probably piss off most the females here. Buffet deserves respect, he earned his wealth. And Bill Gates is an evil sumbitch. He got where he's at through outright theft, crushing the little guy, and ruthless business practices (let's not even talk about the quality of the product he's continually fostered on the public). Don't let the smile fool you. The ONLY reason he gives away tons of money is exactly the reason you mention: tax write-offs. Once you get so rich, you have to give some away or you get taxed to death. In fact, you should always be skeptical when the very wealthy contribute to charity; it's usually more business than altruism. And I'm not sure how on the "up and up" the foundation of Def Jam was (doesn't matter) but Russell Simmons seems like a good man. He probably deserves the respect. He does help the less fortunate among us.

If billionaires like buffet or gates didn't make donations you guys would still be whining about them having so much money and not doing anything good with it. Why do you hate people who have more money then you? You understand that 1% of the population pays 40% of the nations taxes right? If there weren't multi billionaires around that would make more tax burden on the middle class, because we would have to pick up the slack where they left off.

Personally, I have nothing against Buffet. And if you had been paying attention to the real story about Gates' rise to power, like I have, you probably wouldn't like him too much either. He literally stole the GUI from Apple that became Windows, and crushed countless small time companies with the typical, "if you don't sell me your company or idea, we'll bankrupt you." You are one of the countless people on this site that just don't "get it." It's been said over here, ad nauseam, there's nothing wrong with someone having a lot of money. It's how they achieved it. Get with the program or stop commenting.

I'm not sure about Oprah. I know she had a big fight with the meat industry early in the 90s. They tried to destroy her and she got pretty traumatized since then. Seems like she doesn't want to tackle the giants anymore.

If we had tried for the whole 100%.. the world would have laughed... "dreamers".... "We the 99%" is and will work.. people always need a bad guy to go after... hehe,,, the truth is many if not most of the 1% are with us,,, but some of those 1% and their partners need to go to jail...

I'm a really cynical person, and as a really cynical person I see the feel-good sweet revenge as completely counterproductive to the more difficult resource-assimilation and social-reassimilation that would appear to me to be the pragmatic option.

Punishing people for doing what they genuinely believe was right and genuinely believed they deserved to do breeds resentment.

I would speculate the best end result might come from something like: "Hey, bro, I don't agree with you, but imma let your company smoothly transition back into competitive capitalism. I am firmly encouraging you to make some charitable donations to improve your public image and we'll all politely, disinterestedly pretend you care but actually nobody cares if you do or not, just act straight, bro."

Humans love to breed these generation-long resentments and to imagine that people who presently hold one model of ideas are some kind of physical manifestation of those ideas when better practice is that those ideas can readily and easily change in a short period of time.

But, seriously, I hear people dissing the Tea Party, and I keep up with websites like Townhall.com and see the pundits going on and on about dirty, unwashed Obama fellating liberal mobs on Wall Street.

In the real world, well paid white pundits are working for their blindingly rich white corporate masters to sell a narrative that, see, look at how white they all are! They're white, and they have scared working class white folks' best interests at heart. And if you come to their rallies Jesus will love you!

So then folks find out things like some ridiculous % of Tea Party members are on some welfare program or another but don't know it. And what do they do? Say bitter, derisive things about Tea Party folks. (Hey, I've done it myself, I'm not proud. T_T)

The truth is there /is/ a class war going on and it's being won by keeping a politically valuable segment of working class whites segregated from the rest of the working class. What do we really need to do? We need to be patient with these people, recognize they're being exploited and recognize, too, their interests are common, even identical to ours and their prejudices, no matter how genuine, shouldn't get in between us and American unity.

In other words, my general standpoint is we would do best to demand civil behavior in public forums and act in the country's best interests whether it makes us feel pissy or fluffy inside, not demand recompense.

"Class" is a convoluted phrase that carries more import than it should. What is being waged is an economic war. If our government were not complicit in aiding the already super wealthy, We the People would not be losing. The notion that businesses that flagrantly break the law and/or rob the people should be coddled and gently ushered back with some b.s. PR is contrary to Democratic principles. This country and consequently the world, has been ruined by "wealth" worship and the struggle will only begin to end when we stop offering up our consciences to the status quo, even when it is failing us.

It's fine to say all that, but it's been said and said and said again. In fact, the general scheme of these things over thousands of years where the tides have historically turned is that the 99% do, in fact, win, and things end bloody for that stubborn, entitled 1%. See: The French Revolution, The Communist Revolution, etc. etc. etc.

It turns out a concept of "liberté, égalité, fraternité" that motivates any oppressed majority to round up, make mockery of and summarily punish (and in so many cases actually execute) the transgressing minority breeds a poor sort of unity that only holds up as long as there's an enemy to rail against.

Please understand that what you are describing is the status quo. It is old. It is tired. It's tried and done. It is not progress. It's a period of chaos and backsliding. It's the discovery that justice cannot ever be meted out for the crime of exploiting a populace over decades that substitutes feel good flogging in lieu any successful transitional stage in which resources are rationally renegotiated.

And what crime did this 1% commit? None. They did everything by the books. They bought politicians. They controlled laws. They used legal loopholes. Most of this was not crime: it was completely legal. So do we change the laws so say "This is no longer allowed, and anyone who did it in the past ten years will be taken out into public and egged!"?

Like I said, I have no personal feelings for these people. A lot of other people are also jerks and some are much worse except without the ability to influence so many lives. If we take for granted the jerks are jerks then we can pretty much take for granted they thought they were right to and deserved to do anything they did. It's so typical for so many other people it's just not worth getting worked up over.

And, hey, the folks who aren't jerks, who are out there and we know are out there and have been mentioned above, those folks were just getting by day to day in the life they knew, maybe even were born into. And, hey, times are a changin'. Cool beans. Do we wanna screw them over with some kind of radical dismemberment of "Wall Street"? No practical way of sorting wheat and chaff here.

For those folks who didn't play nice, but played by the rules, what I'd like to see happen is they are reintegrated into a society whose structure now disallows their former transgressions and we ensure the highest possible stability for a transitional structure that prevents any fresh economic crisis. They don't deserve it, but everybody else does.

Buying politicians is not "by the books," it is considered highly unethical, albeit convenient. Your description of the Bolshevik Revolution is far too simplified. We need to emphasize the nuances of human potential. If I get the gist of what you are saying, which is that if we mindlessly tear down the status quo, we may fall victim to history repeating, this is absolutely valid. However, we have made strides in the midst of the madness, of this I am sure and We the People can start meting out our needs better than government and industry have ever been or ever will be capable of...at least this is what Elinor Ostrum asserts in a more complex and academic presentation, for which she shared the Nobel Prize in Economics just a few years back :).

For some reason it won't let me reply to your other comment. :O But, I absolutely agree the ethics of government must always be considered. And it's time for a LOT of reform.

I was going back to the earlier/above point that because it was legal when it happened there's not going to be a legal recourse for punishing a lot of these folks. You'd said: "The notion that businesses that flagrantly break the law and/or rob the people should be coddled and gently ushered back with some b.s."

It's that I'm more of the "Let's just let it go and have a good transitional period that works for everybody" because without laws being broken there's really no way to quantify what is and is not deserved in most of these cases.

A lot of it was "Lots of harm and no foul" from a legal standpoint but from my perspective what I'd like to see isn't coddling them so much as rehabilitating them and where impossible treating them as functional units in the economic system well positioned to perform certain tasks under supervision.

If you look at some of the studies like Lois Rogge's 1960's followup to the communications network studies by Art Bavelas and his associates at MIT in 1950, where you have people who are put in a position of delegating to a business a person's personality can change in a short period of time.

The MIT guys would take groups of folks and assign them to tasks and basically map the efficiency of data transmission. Rogge recreated the experiment putting the shyest/least self confident/most awkward individual of the study group in charge of delegation, in the central position, and people who were "natural" leaders she placed in subordinate positions, and over the course of the experiments how they ranked in decisiveness/self-confidence reversed.

The Stanford prison experiment is a very famous example of a study along those lines, but basically what we know about the human brain is that personality traits are to a big extent a function of the structural properties of a social network. So it's realistic, it's even predictable that when these people are taken out of these positions and control proportionally less human labor than they control now they'll shape up. Most of them are likely to be perfectly capable of shaping up after a restructuring of the business sector.

Thank you for those references and I see what you are saying, except for that those who need to be rehabilitated appear to be indignant and are not going to turn themselves in. You see, if society wants to curtail what it deems to be poor behavior, the "it wasn't illegal" loophole is not helpful. You are right, as this is what the SEC is up against, proving guilt of actions that were detrimental but not illegal.

From one of the millions of us 99 percenters who stand with you in spirit, who can't be with you in person because we are sick, or poor, or imprisoned, or enlisted, or overworked and in fear of losing our jobs, THANK YOU ALL for standing up for us and bringing real hope to this day!

We support you in your fight to clean up our streets, parks, politicians and CEOs--today the park, tomorrow the planet!!

people should be occupying washington DC. that's where the real problems arise. those who set the rules to allow those in Wall Street to legally act as crooks. we need to change our political system, and I feel focusing all the attention towards Wall Street is detrimental to the cause. start calling out the real parasites and virus' ruining this country. our politicians. get money out of politics, make shorter term limits, do something to stop our politicians from making millions of a job that is supposed to be a civic duty, not a lifelong career.

i completely agree with you. i don't even know if we can call it "both" parties, as they seem to have coalesced into one. we need to avoid the subjects that divide our parties, like abortion and gay marriage, and come together on the issues that bring us together. everyone is looking for a better future for themselves and future generations, but with current state of our system, and the politicians working for the mega corps, this will never come to fruition.

WE ARE! There are in fact two encampments in DC: Occupy DC is holding McPherson Square, and Stop the Machine is holding Freedom Plaza. Occupy DC focusses on the banksters while Stop the Machine is disrupting Congressional hearings on free trade deals and war. Both will stage a major march on the banks tomorrow, October 15

that's good to hear. i'm just concerned that people aren't taking the protest as serious as i hoped they would. people i know are led to believe all the protests are asking for is handouts, and bailouts for college loans and such, when to me, this clearly isn't the case. if people are asking for that, i don't support them. but if people are looking to uproot the current state of our political system, both dems and reps, then i am all for that. corporations are so entrenched in our system, that the politicians no longer work for us, and anyone who can't get behind that, is blind, and should be left behind.

They (OSW) are correct. Wall Street, or more specifically, Wall Street's greed is the root cause of the mortgage fiasco by creating such an insatiable demand for mortgages to slice and dice into derivatives that banks and mortgage companies threw normal caution to the winds. Unfortunately the rot infected Fanny May and Freddie Mac as well, exposing the taxpayers to their nefarious schemes. What ishould the corrective action be?

And can I add the Obama plan of HAMP to help troubled homeowners has been a huge disappointment! The banks have lobbied against any form of change thus allowing the real estate market to drown in the ugly mess they made. To add insult to injury the banks pretend that they will help homeowners with a modification plan (for which they will receive government payed incentive), only to find out once again the banks are to busy robo signing foreclosures. The restoration of our housing market would take care of a large burden of this economic downturn by: 1. A new modification program for struggling homeowner, one that holds the banks accountable, unlike HAMP this would be mandatory since we know the banks are not eager to comply. 2. Making sure that our treasure secretary does not undermine this program by his own conflict of interests and alliances. 3. working out a deal for underwater mortgages so that homeowners do not walk away from house that was overvalued and depreciating. 4. Preventing a glut of homes on the market, thereby protecting the value of our own homes and like many previous generations restore the increasing value of our investments. 5. Many jobs have been lost as a result of the mortgage fiasco, by restoring our market we generate the need for work in this area= JOBS!

My cousin is 16 years old. Though I admire his fervor to support the amazing people that have chosen to sacrifice their time and energy to protest the corruption that has plagued our great country for decades,my cousin does not belong there. He has run away from home in order to show his support and we, his family are desperate to get him home. The police will not go into Zuccotti Park in order to locate him for fear of causing a misunderstanding between themselves and those camped out in the park. We are the 99% and we must band together in order to create a better future for our country. What better way to protect our future than to help a young man that had lost his way. I ask of all you staying in the park to help us find Josh so we may get him home. if you have any information about my cousin, please contact me at kelly71127@gmail.com

Do not consider anything a win, until the forces of evil all collapse.The Joker, The Obama, The Congress, The Lobbyists.
Maintain a severe sense of direction and follow through.
This may take many more months, or years.
Nothing that is fought hard for, is attained in a short time.
Other civil rights actions show that.
A minor win, adds a little sugar to your pallette.
Root for unification on Saturday, worldwide.
See what happens afterward.
Time is on your side, if you wait long enough all the bad guys eventually die from old age or disease.
But please, move any accounts you have out of the national banks

Talk about mortgages! When I purchased my home I had plenty of money saved to put over 20% down and the bank still kept trying to pressure me into an 80/20, variable rate etc. I kept telling them 30 or 15 year FIXED! It was a small bank too so don't let the corporate run media and republicans tell you that its Fannie, Freddie and individual responsibility when all the banks large and small were pushing this crap to swindle us.

That one bank CEO that said it was his "right" to rip people off was the last straw for me.
The very next morning I closed my account with Bank of AntiAmerica. The begged me to stay, and I told them to talk to the hand, cause MY money was no longer listening.

huh? All I know is that the banks I worked with and others I was considering were trying to jam these crap mortgages down my throat and I kept insisting I do not want this. I did not fall for it. I will let my story be known so it won't happen to others. I care for my fellow americans. I am a true patriot, not a flag pin wearer. Actions speak louder than words. Banks are snake oil salesman.

Socialism and Progressivism is slavery. If you study the Antebellum South, the slave holders tried to justify slavery by saying blacks were "too dumb" to fend for themselves. The slave owner was a "good Christian" providing food and shelter. Of course, Fredrick Douglas and others proved the South wrong.

Now, the government and liberals want to control you by giving you entitlements such as Social Security and Obamacare, saying that you are too dumb to fend for yourself.

What ever happened to self reliance, rugged individualism, and living within your means? I have no pity for you if you bought a house that you couldn't afford and then took out multiple home equity loans to keep up with your neighbors who were buying pools, boats, etc. Show some personal responsibility!

Its like the sharecropping system of the 20th century, or the serfdom system of the middleages rembraced by the 1%.

We the 99% work to see all our money to pay taxes on everything...food,clothes,cars,houses , basic necessaties. I get taxed on my car every year,even thought I brought the car 2006 and paid the tax on it. How many times does a car get taxed?!

Then there is Property tax just to live in a home you paid for. My poor old mother paid her house off 17yrs ago when my dad passed. She's on a fixed teachers pension. She has to pay close to $6,000.00 in property tax. Riducules!!

All this money,overtaxation,banking fees,cheap products made overseas then sold to the 99% at walmart etc goes to line the pockets of the elected politicians & banks...the new lords and masters of the manor..the wallstreet and those people on "The Hill" !
We've been bambozzled!

exactly what i said .the only things is .they are not gone let that sweet pie go to every body look europe you dont see homless why becuse by law every body must have roof on head and food to eat the thing is this day every where you look you see homless and most of them once had job by losing that they lost every things and money gone to banker and their body polition and they call homless bomb and onl way you can take which in first place were belong to peopl is force

rayy4444 is right in a sence...this is 21st century slavery. Credit & debit cards are slavery. Over taxation is slavery. Mortgages are slavery.college loans are slavery. CBI reports is a big form of Slavery...shackles and chains so you can't run. DEBT is SLAVERY.

Think of what BOA is trying to do today to their banking "customers" charge a 1 month fee of $5.00 dollars for use of the debit card. They already have ridicules fees on their other banking "products"

I close my account at BOA and other banks in 2005. I suggest everyone close your accounts and go to a credit union!

Please be cool and work with the property owner (Brookstone). Keep it clean and orderly. Is anyone looking into renting porta johns? Do you need for cleaning supplies to be donated? Has anyone proactively reached out to the property owners? You will show a lot of class and maturity by attempting to work with them and diffuse some of the bs criticism. Be cool stay on the high road and continue to conduct yourselves with dignity. You are in the right and do not need to be provoked into behaving less than dignified. If the property owner wishes to access their property be accommodating and work with them. Maybe they could even be convinced to allow you to have tents tarps and sleeping bags if you show respect for their property. They may be part of the 1% but you are on their land so they are some of the 1% you are going to have to deal with directly. And frankly it may be good practice because sooner or later this movement is going have to engage in true dialogue with the opposition not just chanting and locking of arms. But to have the dialogue one must first conduct themselves with utmost dignity and show the opposition we must be respected. Clean, orderly, respectful of law and order yet purposefully civilly disobedient when called for. Leave the knee jerk reactions and overreactions for the other side. OWS has SO much support and it grows daily. Believe me even among the workers who are employed by the big banks, many of them are part of the 99% and know it but fear for their livelihood just as you do. Stay on the high road. The world is watching and listening.

I love the fact that people have finally banded together and stuck together for longer than a week. The only problem i have, is that the protests are being led against the wrong people. The so called 1% which is more along the lines of 3%, got to where they are because of the greed and neglect of our politicians. This awesome movement is failing to penetrate the people truly responsible for the problems we are all facing now. Please let us not have perfectly good cause become a blunder due to ignorance. With truth comes knowledge and with knowledge comes power. we need to right the ship before its too late

Some guy in a tie, stating he is against Occupy Wall Street, was just on CNN. He listed a website (I think it was oows.org, if I heard correctly) - I went to that site and it seems to be duplicating your site though it's not the same content (?) Just thought I would let you all know about that.

Probably that lying shit wannabe journalist that started the bullshit "we are the 53%" website.
That weasel would try anything to discredit and mock the movement. Figures the jackwagons at CNN would give him airtime.

As everyone knows the middle class has been losing ground now for decades and the divide between rich and the middle class has become larger and larger. The middle class finds itself under assaulted from both political parties. The Demarcates spend money that we do not have and the Republicans carter to the rich. And to top this all off, the best and brightest of our society often work for the very forces that continue to take money from middle class Americans and send it to the powers brokers whether they be union bosses, politicians, or Wall Street insiders.
So how do we fight back? A simple message to politicians regarding what to do to balance the budget…DO NOT RAISE MY TAXES AND DO NOT CUT MY SERVICES (social security, Medicare, Medicaid). GO FIND THE MONEY!
It is a simple message but think about what it does to address corruption and waste in government and stop the slide to the middle class safety net. If they cannot get the money from the middle class to bail them out of the mess they got us into, then finally they will be forced to come up with real reform that does not come at the expense of the middle class.
DO NOT RAISE MY TAXES AND DO NOT CUT MY SERVICES. GO FIND THE MONEY!

Let's use this energy to get our jobs back from illegal aliens who drove down the cost of wages because of corporate greed. They hire them to make more money cause of cheap labor. What's wrong with e verify so we can take back our jobs and higher wages. They are also why are public schools are broke and why almost every city runs a deficit. Wake up people these are our jobs and our country. Illegals help corporation's make more money then they should. The voice is here, so let's make it happen e verify should be a must ... The greed is why they don't want to use it.

politicians and big business in collusion is one of the big problems. Definitely not one or the other. Greed, hands down, is definitely the biggest problem. It's the cause of most of the world's problems. Illegals shouldn't be allowed here at all. How can an illegal in California qualify for a college grant? WTF? And one reason the public schools and local municipalities are broke is because they spent all their surplus years ago thinking the spigot would never run dry. Remember the tobacco settlement a while back? Millions paid by the tobacco industry to city and state coffers that was supposed to go for health care but instead was spent on shit like a new Lincoln for the mayor and groundskeeping at the country club. Health care got squat. Then what happened? The price of a pack of cigarettes skyrocketed meaning, once again, the common man wound up footing the bill and big business made huge profits (and the lawyers). The collusion runs from top to bottom. It's like one big f-ed up spider web. The problem is big, and complicated.

is Brookfield wrong for not wanting their park destroyed??? not sure i would want people sleepin in my backyard for weeks........what exactly do you guys want???? more taxes on financial firms?? that will mean more layoffs and higher unemployment.

Why do you keep buying into the blackmail? Since Reagan taxes have gone down and more and more jobs are sent out of this country! These corporations are making record profits!!! This is simply greed and blackmail. As long as we go along with these threats they will continue. If corporations want the same rights as people then they also need to have the same responsibilities. That means paying their taxes and being a responsible citizen of this country. Not making terroristic threats to take our jobs away if they don't get their way.

Everyone defines free markets incorrectly. Yes, free markets should be unencumbered from useless regulation that increases the cost of doing business and provides no societal good. However, in order for a market to be free as defined by Adam Smith and Milton Friedman a market must be overseen by an umpire and in this case the umpire is the government.

Can you imagine an NFL football game without referees? It would be like the Romans watching the gladiators. The government has failed to do its job of being the referee to markets and industries. Ever since the 1980's our representatives have enacted a "Don't Ask, Don't tell" regulatory policy that has destroyed our free markets.

Markets need to be free from destructive, costly and harmful regulations; however, they also must be free from private entities lacking scruples and striving to take over markets at the expense of individual citizens. These entities have over time managed to buy the control of our politicians who are suppose to protect us from both external and internal tyranny The only solution to the problem is amending the constitution to prohibit campaign contributions from corporations and unions,. More: http://bit.ly/nLY5A3

You guys are awesome. You make me proud to be an American. My heart is with all of the protesters, in NYC, around the country, throughout the world. Keep up the great work that you are doing. People power will prevail.

When your` re taking a small break from fighting this struggle for freedom and justice, please take time to watch this excellent 2011 lecture by Noam Chomsky on the economy “Global Hegemony: the Facts, the Images” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iebK7VVDayY
Let Chomsky enrich our minds :)

Just watched Chomsky. I had read much of his work. Also reviewed your blog and learned much. I am right now editing the final draft of a novel I expect to release as a series of word docs--free--to anyone committed to the revolution. The book is about a citizen alliance that takes full responsibility for all needs, including armed defense. Mainly, it is about right now--and an end to handing off responsibilities to bigness, as we have done for so long. Thank you for your good work.

You wrote a book about forming a Republic? The people in your novel might be able to establish and preserve one, but wouldn't it be great if the people alive in this country today would actually recognize and help those who are trying to SAVE the one that WAS established in a revolution more than 200+ years ago?

The “Working Families Party” which is run by Obama’s “Karl Rove type of guy” (White House political director Patrick Gaspard). This is a white House operation people! Obama political advisor Patrick Gaspard holds the same White House position his Bush-era predecessor, Karl Rove, did. But before he was the White House political czar he worked in several far left organizations as activist and agitator.

One of the more disturbing aspects of the Obama-ACORN connection is that the White House political affairs director is one Patrick Gaspard.

New York’s Working Families Party was first organized in 1998 by a coalition of labor unions, ACORN and other community organizations, members of the now-inactive national New Party, and a variety of public interest groups such as Citizen Action of New York.

Indeed! I hope they enjoy their 30 pieces of Silver. Guess it's one way of giving people jobs. :P Why do they even have to bother if OWS is so "insignificant" one wonders. Keep fighting - the truth must be heard over all of their attempts to dilute the signal and derail the movement! Stay true to it's core values and continue to protest nonviolently! Peace!

Scared of things you don't understand because you haven't taken time to understand them? That's not a new quality among human beings; it dates back to the beginning of the recording of time.

In fact, it's a reaction that can be observed in animals, too.

Rise up, educate yourself, realize who is taking what is rightfully yours; it ain't OWS.

OWS collected none of the $16.4 trillion the Federal Reserve let out the back door, and received none of the TARP money. Nor have they ever bought a politician's vote in trumping your representation.

OWS is owned by no one, and is beholding only to a set of messages and ideas.

From what I can gather, those messages and ideas are;

One person-One vote,

and

It's Citizens (People as individuals) who are supposed to exercise influence, on an equal basis, in government action.

and

Stop selling our representation and donating our prosperity to the wealthy national and international corporations.

When the average persons can overcome the fear of the new, strange, or unknown, and abandon unfounded faith and trust in the spin doctors who poison what's now accepted as media, then they may realize that there is very little to fear, and much to support, in those ideas.

"...OWS collected none of the $16.4 trillion the Federal Reserve let out the back door, and received none of the TARP money..."

Good point....but the figure you give should be $16.4 BILLION. "Our" government would probably give away $-TRILLION of OUR tax money to the 1%....IF millions of us WEREN'T behind the OWS Movement. Let's all remember what the IWW constitution said: "The Working Class and the Owning Class have NOTHING in common!"

I used the word 'Trillion' because that is what is reflected in the first-ever audit of the Federal Reserve, which resulted from Bernie Sanders, Ron Paul, and a variety of others attaching a rider to a bill, causing the audit to take place; an audit which Bernanke testified would destroy us.. No doubt because he knew what the audit would reveal.

And not all of that money went to U.S. corporations. Deutche Bank is on the list, as is a Swiss bank. A person might even take it as a 'tipping of the hand' as to which banks are on the list of entities making up the IMF..

The audit and its results can be viewed at Bernie Sanders (Vt) web site.

$16.4 Trillion, out the back door of the Federal Reserve. Approximately $2 Trillion greater than our entire Nat'l debt.

Difficult to fathom, isn't it??

And you heard about it on which, right, left, or centrist news program?? 'None,' is the answer I have to give when asked.

I wouldn't have known about it at all, had someone not forwarded the link to me, which took me to Bernie Sanders' web site.

While some of that money has been, or will be, paid back on 0% interest loans (You and I get those 0% APR loans all the time, right?), the massive influx of currency, while owing what the U.S. owes to China, et al, means an inherent devaluation of one sort or another to the U.S. dollar, especially from 2007 to 2011.

Why should that bother us?

'Cause your and my kids just (potentially) went further into poverty by needing more deneros to buy a gallon of milk, dozen eggs, gallon of gas, insurance, etc.,

That's aside from the issue of preferential treatment the Fed gifted to the mega-corps, while the unemployment rates, foreclosures, costs of food, rent, and -especially- fuel (of all types), continued to sky-rocket for the average Joe and Jane.

I'm new to this group and am joining in the protest tomorrow where I live. This is the fourth protest I've been involved in against Corporate greed since 4/15/11 and finally the media is picking up on it. Thanks to OWS. I don't know who you are permalink but you write well and state the cause meaningfully.

I'm both sinner and saint, older than I used to be, soured on much of the human race, dreams on life-support, having failed myself and others, blacklisted from my former profession for many reasons, including being perceived as irreverent and a threat to the entrenched gate-keepers, and, for the first time in decades, I see a spark of hope... shining from Wall St !

WALL ST. OF ALL PLACES!!

Who would've thought a light of hope would emerge between the buildings and offices of those who bought our freedom, futures and representation..

I hope one day we ALL lock arms in solidarity, political differences aside,, and hold on tight. What a hug that would be, huh??

One thing for sure, we're not the second wave of Teabaggers like CNN and other gits would like to believe. With the exception of a handfull of lugnuts trying to usurp the movement, I'm not seeing much in the way of openly brandished firepower, racial slurs, or neo-Naziism that wound up being the Teabagger badge of shame.

All we're saying is that there's a tumor that's eating America alive, and we're pointing it out. It's up to the politicians to grow a pair and think about the people instead of their wallets.

I think the Global Uprising that is happening is on it's way towards the scenario you describe - and it's very inspiring after feeling as if so many years have passed where we have been helpless and apathetic in attempts to let people know what is really going on and exposing corruption. Finally people are taking a stand in numbers - we refuse to be ignored!

No one is flooding Asia with millions of non-Asians and saying 'You are going to LOSE your jobs. You are going to lose your homes. There's NOTHING you can do about it. That's life.'

No one is flooding Africa with millions of non-Africans and saying 'You are going to LOSE your jobs. You are going to lose your homes. There's NOTHING you can do about it. That's life.'

No one is flooding Mexico with millions of non-Mexicans and saying 'You are going to LOSE your jobs. You are going to lose your homes. There's NOTHING you can do about it. That's life.'

They ONLY get away with this in EVERY White country and ONLY in White countries. But, if I point to this obvious truth about the genocide of MY race, the White race. Progressive Liberals and Respectable Conservatives agree that I am a "RACIST."

They try to silence us while claiming they are anti-racist. What they are is anti-White.

Remember demands imply negotiation. Demanding change from those who have no place in the new order is not productive. We don't demand anything of a tumor because we are not negotiating with it. We cut it out plain and simple. So keep it up and remember you can change things radically it has been done before and the time is ripe for it to happen again.

Please everyone read my web page at www.mybetteramericaplan.com and on the Current events of my web page are ideas on how to legally shut down Wall Street, the Chicago mercantile Exchange, Congress and the Republican Convention in Tampa this summer. It is not enough to shout at those that do you wrong. You must get those that oppress you to pass laws and initiate policies that will insure that they can't harm you anymore. It's been a long while ago that this economic revolution has started yet nothing has changed. My plan will FORCE those that oppress us to change their ways. If those that oppress you can't get to work or when they do get to work they cannot work then they will HAVE TO give in to demands so that they can work again. We have to close them ALL down! We have to tie up the vehicle traffic, pedestrian traffic, bus and train traffic, elevators, phone lines, offices and every other form of business that those that oppress us use. Fight back in a way that will get RESULTS! Much more information is on my web page.

By the way, all of the celebrities and national figures who tout they support you, show up around NY, etc. Don't you think if you are fighting greed, they are being hypocritical???? They are very wealthy people. In fact, Michael Moore himself is worth about $50 million. Yet, they say they support you. If they really did, then wouldn't they be giving millions to help you???? Just a thought.

Put your posters down and get back to work. Life is not fair-you should have learned that on the playground in grade school. Don't take out a loan you can't pay back. Don't live outside your means and expect sympathy when it all comes crashing down......Put in an honest days work for an honest days pay-if you are creative enough and willing to take the risk, maybe one day you'll get to reap the benefit and live even more comfortably than the 99% of the world's population that you are already ahead of just because of where you happened to be born. Playing the blame game will get you nowhere; it will get you a whiny, poor, pitiful me, attitude. Where's the honor in that?

We don't need a President, a Puppet, a Dictator, or a Queen. What we need is a new PARADIGM. You can't fix a corrupt system with a bandaid, or the evil will just come back. Start with basic human rights for all. Nutritious Food, Clean Water, Clothing, Housing and Bartering for all, treat the people right and the people will treat each other right. It won't be easy, but we must do it!!

OWS needs to suggest and propound rational, non-sophomoric and respectable ideas around which the movement can coalesce and which the majority would support. THEN, we'll we be able to effect MEANINGFUL CHANGE in this country.

Why limit the focus to Wall St and corporate greed, why not include those feudal corporations, like WalMart, that generate lower expectations, take manufacturing jobs out of the country to sell us cheap goods made elsewhere and without options, now keep Americans in low paying jobs without health and other benefits. Occupy Wal Mart ! Support your local green markets, find better clothing at second hand stores, live a healthy lifestyle with great expectations, right now.

Naive folks. Do You really think that we, the 1%, will ever give up ? In the street You may gather a billion of noisy idiots who cannot even self-organize and formulate their political demands. Nothing will change. We own everything in this country-the businesses, the government, the congress, the mass media, the police. All congressmen and president are members of our "1%" class. We will decide, not You.
Maybe as usual we'll send You a couple of food stamps and 100 bucks in order to make You shut up.

I am a japanese in Japan. I always thought it was wrong that the great ressesion like last one were caused too often by the those 1 % and caused too many trouble to the rest. I really admire the principle of this movement and I wish to join and change the system.

I am a japanese in Japan. I always thought it was wrong that the great ressesion like last one were caused too often by the those 1 % and caused too many trouble to the rest. I really admire the principle of this movement and I wish to join and change the system.

I am a japanese in Japan. I always thought it was wrong that the great ressesion like last one were caused too often by the those 1 % and caused too many trouble to the rest. I really admire the principle of this movement and I wish to join and change the system.

Let's use this energy to get our jobs back from illegal aliens who drove down the cost of wages because of corporate greed. They hire them to make more money cause of cheap labor. What's wrong with e verify so we can take back our jobs and higher wages. They are also why are public schools are broke and why almost every city runs a deficit. Wake up people these are our jobs and our country. Illegals help corporation's make more money then they should. The voice is here, so let's make it happen e verify should be a must ... The greed is why they don't want to use it.

Reverse Citizens United. Make clear Corporations are not people in the Constitution.

Separately Elect the U.S. Attorney General, in non-partisan race: i.e., not appointed by the President. This will make sure the people have a lawyer protecting their interests vis-a-vis the Gov’t (most state-level AGs are separately elected from the Gov).

Conscript Presidential Military Power to instigate wars and military actions abroad, without Congressional authorization.

International Human Rights Treaties Enforcement: Create a Private Right of Action to enforce International Treaties domestically, or alternatively, providing that the Gov’t must abide by them, enforceable by the U.S. AG perhaps.

U.S. Domestic Policy:

Natural Resource Usage Tax & Energy Policy: Tax the use of natural resources where ever they come from, and use this to create a zero-oil/coal energy policy (along with huge investment in solar, which is already at market readiness, and on-grid in Nevada).

Corporate Responsibility Law & Wealth Tax: Create legal code of ethics and transparency for corporations, and tax standing wealth of Corporations (to get them moving assets, not hording them, close all foreign holding loop holes).

Lobbyist Prohibition: Have a prohibition on former Congress people (and perhaps Gov’t employees) becoming Lobbyist for 20 years (eliminate influence peddling).

International:

WTO Accountability: Make the WTO have a public process component, transparency, and accountability.

Create Standing for Private Citizens/NGOs at World Court: International treaties (except WTO treaties) are not enforceable, except by gov’t against gov’t, and they don’t do that. We need a real Int’l legal & enforcement mechanism to enforce International Human Rights treaties.

I agree there need to be demands that really work. Close tax loopholes, single payer healthcare, NO CREDIT DEFAULT SWAPS, but the way to change things is to take away their real funding. each time we buy products, deposit in a bank, we vote. If we are to take them down, EVERYONE not in the top 1% (or even if they are but support the movement) needs to take every dime out of big banks and put it in credit unions, finally, everyone should buy local/small business when they do make purchases, local farms, local Etsy merchants for gifts, local restaurants, local hotels when you travel to other cities, etc. They have the power because we give our salaries right back to big corporate behemoths. Stop buying at Wal Mart, etc. ALWAYS support small, local. Leave money in local communities and we will eventually take the money out of Washington.

I agree there need to be demands that really work. Close tax loopholes, single payer healthcare, NO CREDIT DEFAULT SWAPS, but the way to change things is to take away their real funding. each time we buy products, deposit in a bank, we vote. If we are to take them down, EVERYONE not in the top 1% (or even if they are but support the movement) needs to take every dime out of big banks and put it in credit unions, finally, everyone should buy local/small business when they do make purchases, local farms, local Etsy merchants for gifts, local restaurants, local hotels when you travel to other cities, etc. They have the power because we give our salaries right back to big corporate behemoths. Stop buying at Wal Mart, etc. ALWAYS support small, local. Leave money in local communities and we will eventually take the money out of Washington.

I agree there need to be demands that really work. Close tax loopholes, single payer healthcare, NO CREDIT DEFAULT SWAPS, but the way to change things is to take away their real funding. each time we buy products, deposit in a bank, we vote. If we are to take them down, EVERYONE not in the top 1% (or even if they are but support the movement) needs to take every dime out of big banks and put it in credit unions, finally, everyone should buy local/small business when they do make purchases, local farms, local Etsy merchants for gifts, local restaurants, local hotels when you travel to other cities, etc. They have the power because we give our salaries right back to big corporate behemoths. Stop buying at Wal Mart, etc. ALWAYS support small, local. Leave money in local communities and we will eventually take the money out of Washington.

Please don't give up - remember the European occupation of central and south America after Columbus, millions died and Europe added 4% wealth from the Potosi, Bolivia silver mines. Remember Clara Lemlich and the 20,000 strike force of 1909 of the garment industry in NY. Remember the Triangle Waistshirt Company ( N.Y.) fire victims of 1911, 140 young girls who jumped to their deaths out of windows, half of them teens who reported unsafe work conditions. Remember the victims of the psychotic greed fed stock market crash of 1929 - 14 million out of work, foreclosures at 1,000 a day, the hungry and the dead. AND last but not least, George W. Bush - " we are FOREVER in YOUR debt. "

I believe like you all we need change. I have read about the grievances but what are your solutions? The protests are good but if you don't have good solutions to make a difference, then what good would be protesting? An example, Egypt. They protested ousted the govenment officials but then chaos. What are the ideas of the protesters? Such as government as whole taking a 20% pay cut? Have all of the government officials have the same crappy health insurance we all do. What are the ideas for reducing government spending and having govenment be less invasive in the every day life of people? What are your ideas for changes on Wall Street? How will you change big business without losing the ideas of the right to capitalism? What ideas for cutting taxes that plague the American public? Higher education for our children? These are my questions, maybe you have put them out there but I couldn't find any ideas on changes. Thank you

On Friday morning, I really enjoyed how you created an unsafe situation at the front entrance of a school on New Street. My students were terrified and scared. Next time you run through the streets at 730 in the morning, I suggest picking a better route. It will make the children a little less scared to come to school. Thank you.

If you want to be taken seriously by the mainstream you should focus your protest on Campaign Finance Reform, that is the only way to get Wall Street out of the Government. A CFR amendment to the constitution that would prohibit businesses, groups and individuals from donating to candidates would mean a truly level playing field. It would require TV and Cable operators to donate debate time in order to be licensed and in this age of the internet a great deal of campaigning can now be done for free so there is no need for anyone to have influence in the government other than the voters. Move your protest to D.C. where it belongs.

Happy to see this has grown....You must however keep it civil and not allow anyone to bring in their personal agenda of violence. The message must be clear that America needs JOBS! That large corporations must stop builidng factories out of our country to then fired American workers here for cheaper wages their in order to earn even larger profits. Most of all remember that their are plenty of responsible wealty Americans that support the idea of taxing fairly and support this cause BUT keep it clear , foucsed, and most of all civil even though their will be many their on both sides looking to confuse and end this revolution...

Happy to see this has grown....You must however keep it civil and not allow anyone to bring in their personal agenda of violence. The message must be clear that America needs JOBS! That large corporations must stop builidng factories out of our country to then fired American workers here for cheaper wages their in order to earn even larger profits. Most of all remember that their are plenty of responsible wealty Americans that support the idea of taxing fairly and support this cause BUT keep it clear , foucsed, and most of all civil even though their will be many their on both sides looking to confuse and end this revolution...

Also remember Gandhi's salt march to the sea. Denver could start a march somewhere or from multiple directions, gathering thousands of people and momentum along the trail and end up at Lincoln Park and occupy it.

If you pull out all your cash from the banks, default on your mortgage and credit cards, the bankters will disappear on the spot. The whole problem in Europe is a liquidity crisis. The Fed just bailed out European banks on US taxpayer $ a few weeks ago, rather unknown to most people.

It is sad news about Denver; it should make more resolved than ever to turn out. Why not target Brookfield buldings then? Republic Plaza downtown is owned; same owners at Zuccotti park. The power is in the masses. Remember civil disobedience. And since when did Freedom need a permit? The parks belong to the people. Insane that Zuccotti Park is a "privately owned public park." Keep things public not private!

How about a worldwide international strike day? Invite everybody to join in. Invite all to stop paying their credit card, mortgage, withdraw all their cash from the bank. That will stop the banksters in their tracks and they will melt down immediately.

Let's not lose focus here. It's been class warfare for a long time, the wealthy have been pitting the middle class against the poor for decades. The effective tax rate for the wealthy has been a lot less than blue collar workers for a long time. The corporations they run are huge tax evaders and the middle class pays the majority of the bills for everyone. Over paid corporate executives tanked the economy and now with billions in cash reserves they're holding back jobs like a kids that selfishly take their toys home because of new regulations that requires them to play fair. Hold the uber wealthy accountable, make them play fair and pay dearly.

Herman Cain, hear this, a flat tax would be great, lets do 15% over a $15k standard deduction for individuals and eliminate all other deductions except for natural disaster, catastrophic health care and secondary education costs. Corporations get no write offs, 20% tax rate straight up, no exceptions...fire the accountants and hire someone that actually brings in money for your company honestly.

No wonder the NYPD led protesters onto the Brooklyn Bridge and then arrested 700 - lots of overtime pay and exceeding arrest quotas... and no wonder they're arresting so many innocent people involved in the protests. It's the classic, "2fer."

Please spread the word. The protesters should be handing out leaflets with this information in EVERY city and then chant in front of the police: "USA, USA, USA!"

Nice, I am of the ones who has been hit by this powerplay by the big corps, this writing started as I was thinking, pouring my writing onto the page and listening to "Genesis" "Land of Confusion" simultaneously. I found myself angry and writing what I think and do think Occupy Wall Street Represents...then I was confronted by all the barriers to being able to POST(dd I regsiter? what is my email? I registered and now everthing I wrote is gone!!)!!!!!!!! Hello Ellay Poppit...got by you didn't I...you are expecting 95% to give up...The corp is here trying to stop us..sound paranoid? THINK!!! why can"t I type!! Here is the 99%..yes I am one..!. You can't give out high risk loans then short these loans by shorting credit default swaps on the loans YOU WROTE and not go to jail. Just like any other broker would have, a credit default swap is an inurance policy that says that a high risk loan will not go into default. BOC and several others POLICY ..CAN NOT REMOVE THE OVERRIGHT...HMM WHO IS KEEPING CONTROL OF THIS WEBSITE, FIRE THE BASTARDS!!!!!!!had anything to do with it), hmm raise interest rates? There are a few that were bailed out that need to be wearing orange jumpsuits. 2. The jobs bill needs to be passed, the idea that lower taxes is going to somehow create jobs...ummm ELLO!!! f'nging idiots we have had ten years of that, most of the lay offs took place BEFORE OBAMA was ever OMINATED on the deomcrate ticket...ohh yahh Kader(MOST OF AMERICA LIKES TO BE LEAD BY THE NOSE BY CORPORATE AMERICA IT APPEARS)

need to reorganize this system, for the people and by the people is broken, government, the two party system of who can get enough money to make commercials getting the massis to follow is really really borcken, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson are rolling in their graves, not because one party is spending money and one is not or vice a versa, but becuase it has all been used to destroy the democratic process, remember, these two were as far apart as Busch and Clinton, yet ended their lives the greatest of friends, this country now appears to be one so divided it doesn't care if a Nazi party (ie Tea Party,,,and yes I said it) couldn't take control and usurp enverything,

The problem is not too much capitalism but too much socialism in the form of business subsidies in favor of big pharma and big agri etc. The only way that wall street has gotten powerful in the first place is the federal reserve a sophisticated debt creating machine that siphons off our tax money in the form of income tax to pay off the interest on the principal. See this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc3sKwwAaCU

The only way monopolies can be formed is by government coercion through FDA regulations that knock out competition and not allow us the liberty to drink raw milk. Check for example the recent rawsome food raid:

Only by small government that the neoliberalists can have nothing to lobby and hence expand its power.

Expecting government who is the servant of wall street to turn against wall street is only providing a pretext to oppress us even more by expanding its powers. The best you can get from the wall street cabinet of Obama is a shuffling of musical chairs:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13208

The NBC Nightly News coverage of the victory today was appalling. They interviewed ZERO occupiers, but instead got comments from one woman who thought it was dumb and another guy who "kinda agreed with some of what they're saying." How blatant can the skewed coverage be? Don't even talk to any of the people your story is about...crazy. We got a lot better coverage of our (much smaller) group here in MT. http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/29490270/detail.html

Keep up the good work there guys. We're all pulling for you, out here under the Big Sky.

Okay people, lets take a logical approach to the last sentence of this article, particularly about Tunisia. I am in no way saying that Wall Street is good or even respectable, but I dont think Tunisia is an adequate example, and here's why: the Tunisian street vendor who lit himself on fire did so because his stand was confiscated by the government. The government was overregulating and that is what caused the confiscation. Now, de-regulation is a principal of neoliberalism, so I think we are hurting our own cause by citing Tunisia as an inspiration.

Been contemplating "next moves." Thinking it would be fun if a "Bailout of the Banks" action could be organized...try to convince everyone who's pissed about the gov't bailout to "Bailout" of BofA, Wells Fargo, Chase, etc in favor of credit unions and green investment funds...Think we could inspire a bank run? Only this one would be caused not by fears of the banks failing, but anger about their not being allowed to do so. Just a thought.

General comment from a newbie. I support OWS as a force for positive change, and agree the country has become too beholden to large corporate interests. However, I think it would be beneficial to the OWS cause to remain pro- business. Business in of itself is not evil. Businesses,large and small, run responsibility, can be a forces of tremendous positive social change. I think OWS has an opportunity to write the blueprint, a manifesto possibly, by which entrepreneurs and socially responsible business people measure the social responsibility of their business, which in turn can help leverage the engine of capitalism to save the world.

How many of you have actually read the Constitution of the United States?? Many people on here say "the Constitution says......." In many cases they are wrong. Just the other day, someone responded to one of my post saying that separation of church and state is guaranteed in the Constitution. That is an incorrect statement. http://www.usconstitution.net/constnot.html#church
There are a lot of comments on here about Constitutional rights. I would suggest you actually check this site. Just like it guarantees the freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. All of you are gathering for justice, but outside of huge cities, this really is a joke. Here in Charlotte, NC there are only 24 people camped out. A reporter went down and tried to find out what they were protested. No one really had a good answer for him. 24 people. That is a great turn out. Most of your retirements are tied up in Wall Street, or in some way your jobs depend on it. No, I don't work for any Wall Street company or bank, but I realize that here in Charlotte, Bank of America is a major employer of thousands of people. This also affects many small businesses who rely on BofA and there employees. Things like this are only going to make employers less likely to hire, it creates more uncertainty, and those of us who are gainfully employed and paying taxes are doing what we can to keep our jobs. By the way, all of these companies that took "bail outs" have paid back all the tax money, with interest, so as the tax payer, we got our money back, plus some. The tax payers made a profit!!! We might see if it this administration hadn't wasted so much money on programs that accomplished NOTHING. That is why this "jobs bill" need to not pass.

Sorry. I know it is bad, but some industries are doing well. The Information Technology sector is doing well, at least here in the South. I checked, and on Careerbuilder.com, in New York alone there are 137 pages of job openings in the IT field.

Yes, I have read the Constitution. I am a history buff, and enjoy studying our early history. I have also toured place like Gettysburg and Valley Forge.

http://willrichardson.net/funhouse/occupyfoxnews.htm
This is getting interesting! In the last 24 hours, Support for OWS on
the Fox News viewer vote is taking a nose-dive. "Yes" votes hit a high
of 70.44% of the vote on 10/12. The anti-occupy wall street side (no)
has gained 31,867 votes in the last 24 hours, (nearly a tenfold increase
over "yes" votes in the same time period.) dropping the "yes" lead
to 56.11 %. In contrast, "yes" votes have gained only 3,599 votes
in 24 hours. And Fox doesn't even have a link on the Drudge Report yet.

I've got over 27 screenshots documenting the vote since 10/9. Haven't calculated the votes per minute yet, (it was 132 votes per minute for "yes" at one point on 10/9) but this seems like a phenomenal gain. Guess the anti-OWS cavalry is coming. Fox hasn't mentioned the results on their front page since the voting
began on 10/7. But at this rate, expect "no" to be in the lead within a few hours if not sooner. Then it'll hit the front page. I haven't updated the page linked at the top in a couple of days, but will later tonight

i've read many of the comments below and it reminded me of something my daughter pointed out and which she believes everyone on this planet is capable of understanding.

In the movie "A beautiful mind" Russell Crowe shows how if they all go after the girl they all lose. He proves that it is always better for a group to behave collaboratively than each for his/her own interest.

With that concept grasped and kept foremost in one's mind surely loads of current skeptics / nay-sayers can come around?

Fully agree that it would be best if the exceptionally wealthy are NOT pilloried. We want to change the system not target specific people.

I want to see some OWS personel run for office (congress or senate). Call it the 99% party to replace the blue dog democrats (they’re conservatives anyway) and replace the ones who voted yea on the free trade act (job killing bill). The demonstrators and the occupiers thru out the country are ready to help campaign. The Tea party elected officials have dragged their party to the extreme right and threaten the moderate republicans to follow their lead. We need the 99% party as elected officials to counter act them.
WE DESERTALEY NEED THE 99% IN OFFICE TODAY.

Since Herman Cain's 999 plan eliminates all tax deductions, Cain's plan ensure the rich pay taxes and will provide incentive for workers to make more money without the fear of moving into a higher tax bracket. The economy will boom and tax revenues will increase.

Let's use this energy to get our jobs back from illegal aliens who drove down the cost of wages because of corporate greed. They hire them to make more money cause of cheap labor. What's wrong with e verify so we can take back our jobs and higher wages. They are also why are public schools are broke and why almost every city runs a deficit. Wake up people these are our jobs and our country. Illegals help corporation's make more money then they should. The voice is here, so let's make it happen e verify should be a must ... The greed is why they don't want to use it.

That is a crude way that protestor put it -- but I don't disagree that corporations are paid to be skilled manipulators and scam artists. I've been scammed before by a "free trial" whose terms I didn't read carefully enough. The way they verbalized it to me was intentional. There should be protections for consumers and liars should be held accountable.

My cousin is 16 years old. Though I admire his fervor to support the amazing people that have chosen to sacrifice their time and energy to protest the corruption that has plagued our great country for decades,my cousin does not belong there. He has run away from home in order to show his support and we, his family are desperate to get him home. The police will not go into Zuccotti Park in order to locate him for fear of causing a misunderstanding between themselves and those camped out in the park. We are the 99% and we must band together in order to create a better future for our country. What better way to protect our future than to help a young man that had lost his way. I ask of all you staying in the park to help us find Josh so we may get him home. if you have any information about my cousin, please contact me at kelly71127@gmail.com

You know, in two years he'll be old enough to use the ballot box, and therefore legally say that lugnuts like Rick Perry, Sarah Palin and Herman Cain gets kicked to the curb, and guard the future so that this shit doesn't happen again. In all fairness he should learn that the issues that fuel the protest are vitally important.

Where's he gonna get that info? The distilled bullshit coming out of Faux News and CNN? Hah! The brainwashing agenda going on at public school? Hah, again! Propaganda machines, the lot of them.

He might as well hang around. The truth we're telling may be ugly, but it's still the truth.

Perhaps it is a good idea to show our gratitude to the family that owns the park who called off the dogs. It's important to be grateful and if I've learned anything from my midwestern boyfriend, a thank you card is always a good way to show gratitude. Maybe 1,000 thank you cards would be even better?

My cousin is 16 years old. Though I admire his fervor to support the amazing people that have chosen to sacrifice their time and energy to protest the corruption that has plagued our great country for decades,my cousin does not belong there. He has run away from home in order to show his support and we, his family are desperate to get him home. The police will not go into Zuccotti Park in order to locate him for fear of causing a misunderstanding between themselves and those camped out in the park. We are the 99% and we must band together in order to create a better future for our country. What better way to protect our future than to help a young man that had lost his way. I ask of all you staying in the park to help us find Josh so we may get him home. if you have any information about my cousin, please contact me at kelly71127@gmail.com

I think this citizen movement is great. To counter Wall Street's greed, we need to get money out of our politics. Our Representatives vote for where the money comes from not for what is good for the country. Money, whether from Wall Street or not, is corrupting our congress.

Think about what money is and those who serve it. It never sleeps and never stops. Those of us who believe this to be antihuman and against the grain of why we are here as human beings, must be as vigilant in the desire to end this madness we are a part of!
Let us never end the fight for human justice, and human dignity by becoming the best of what we can be! Money, and those who've created this system has for so long denied us that!

We are all human beings dammit! We are not numbers and digits nor are we disposable!
The only disposable ones we can afford to lose are the ones who gave us this crappy and evil system.
This system is created by evil for evil and must be destroyed into oblivion, never to be seen again!!
End the fed and the IRS, and lets get those only in government who have the peoples best interests at heart. The current folks in Washington have to go and never be seen as public servants ever again! Let them go and try to survive on $7 as so many have to.
Rise up everyone--we can do it!!

From the Declaration of Independence. Not only do you have the right to overthrow your government, it is a responsibility placed on us by a founding fathers. If our government betrays us, acts other then in accordance to our wishes or we feel changes need to be made it is our obligation to do so

Hey y'all! I had a peek at the local CBS news channel, and what did I hear?
Positive commentary and honest reporting on the Occupy movement! Not a single "dirty hippy" slur, little to none negative spin, though they had a word or two aimed at BoA.

We're finally getting some positive attention from the mainstream press, and about time.
WOOT!!

Nice!!! We won!!! This one small step for change, one giant leap for mankind!
Let's keep on fighting, lets keep being non-violent. This movement is a example for all occupation movements. What started in New York, it ends in New York. Lets keep bring more signs, lets point out the ill practices of greedy investors and big businesses. Lets keep in mind that many politicians are members of secret societies. We need to stop and end their influences in politics and end media bias. Lets propose a new system of democracy! Direct democracy! Instead of electoral votes, elections should be run on popular, and a multi-party system. More common people participating and running for public office positions. But in theory, we can't trust no party.

Lets keep on moving forward! We shall occupy together until our demands are met!

The idea of "too big to fail" worries me. The amazing protesters and all of us who support them accomplished a fantastic feat, but it is not nearly over. We can't stop thinking, looking, guessing, or questioning, and we must persistently try harder. Logic tells me the 1% will be as conniving and vicious as ever in their desperate attempts to maintain the status quo. They will try something so we can't drop our guard. Not a single person can give up. Try harder than the day before. We've tasted victory with the first success and we'll taste more after the next.

Oh yeah, there's no doubt they'll fight back, with everything from more putdowns in the media, to throwing more po at us. And it's all too obvious they've bought local politics and DC almost completely.

They've already seen what happens when they try brutality and coverups: We get the word out anyway and it goes viral, drawing in more and more support.

They've seen what happens when they try evictions: Massive public backlash from all corners.

They've been trying slurs, trolling, misinformation and outright lying. Again and again, we counter bullshit with uncut truth.

Remember the movie "A Bug's Life"? They see us as the ants, and they're the ruthless gang of no-account punk grasshoppers stealing from and terrorizing the ants. You know what happened when the ants wised up to the scam.

I agree. They know they are losing. Their only hope is to take away the credibility from this movement and to ignore it and not let it enter into the mainstream. This is what we are really fighting! edit: the "Mainstream" is really their own talking points.

The idea of "too big to fail" worries me. The amazing protesters and all of us who support them accomplished a fantastic feat, but it is not nearly over. We can't stop thinking, looking, guessing, or questioning, and we must persistently try harder. Logic tells me the 1% will be as conniving and vicious as ever in their desperate attempts to maintain the status quo. They will try something so do not let your guard down. Not a single person can give up. Try harder than the day before. We've tasted victory with the first success and we'll taste more after the next.

GENERIC REPLY TO TROLLS - OWS is not about taking down the government, wallstreet, or capitalism. It's about making those in the government, big business, and banking industries - who engage in financial and economic activities which are harmful to the general public - accountable. It's about changing the way corporations affect our government so that the negative affects as per the first statement are not allowable, and so the voice of the people to be heard in the democratic process is not dependent on how much money you earn. OWS is not specifically affiliated with any political party, as these issues do not affect one political party or another, but all Americans. OWS protesters are not a bunch of hippies, but demographically come from all religions, educational backgrounds, ages, races, genders, and political affiliations. The system is broken - we cannot appeal to it to fix itself. We cannot be foolish enough to think that corporations and other institutions will police themselves left to their own devices. OWS is leaderless, and decisions are based on those who vote at the general assembly disscussions held in each city. Please educate yourselves.

I'll be showing up for the one in my town tomorrow, hope everybody else does as well. WE, every single one of us puts more fear into the elites than any military weapon on earth, because when WE become one, they know they are done.
It is why they put so much effort into keeping us divided, it seems to be Washingtons only purpose anymore.
The machine is churning at maximum output right now, the think tanks, the teams of psychologists and psychiatrists that make up the tactics for physiological warfare are in overdrive plotting how to derail this movement before it gains more traction.
Remain leaderless and grow, the powers that be know very well what the issues are. It's psychological warfare we are fighting and has been for many years. Right now they have nothing to attack and it's totally screwing up how the machine is designed to destroy.

Wasn't that the same logic behind the housing bubble, the CDO market, the financial system, etc.
I'm not sure how the protesters are "winning". What are they winning? Exposure? Costing tax payers more money?

I agree that our financial and political system needs some serious work, but I just don't believe that future changes will come as a result of the protests.

Here's a question for you... exactly how did you run up the balance on the credit cards you plan on not paying? Did you buy an iphone , laptop or other "toy" under the pretense that it was a necessity? Designer clothes or perhaps a night out on the town? Our parents and grandparents had a great idea that seems to have been lost these days. When they couldn't afford something, they did without. It seems that frugality seems to be a lost art to the " I want it, and I want it now" generation.
I have 2 no fee cards that Chase makes absolutely no money on ( Well not from me at least). The balances are paid in full at the end of the month, so they haven't gotten one cent in interest from me in over seven years. I'm far from being one of the 1%. I make about 30k a year, shop at thrift stores and generally live within my means.
Just remember, when you openly embrace consumerism, you freely offer your arms to the shackles the banks want to place on you.

I am thinking Occupy deserves somthing for its efforts. Particularly, I am thinking that the movement, and all of its associated members, anti-capitalists, socialists, anarchasits, academic elitists, leftists, etc., be given a homestead to form their own society. I am thinking that the Dakotas might work ,or perhaps Texas, minus the oil wells. You guys can live off organic farming, bartering, and sales of promotional materials preaching higher moral worth. No US citizenship for you anymore, however...and there will absolutely be a very large border fence. The only downside: the next 100 generations of your offspring will likely be spending all of their time trying to climb the border fence to get back into the U.S.

Well, if you deleted all those groups you mention from the population of the US, you'd be left with a bunch of uneducated slobs, rightwing religious freaks, neo-nazis, pampered selfish rich folks, and just plain stupid people. You're made for each other! Have a nice time!

GENERIC REPLY TO TROLLS - OWS is not about taking down the government, wallstreet, or capitalism. It's about making those in the government, big business, and banking industries - who engage in financial and economic activities which are harmful to the general public - accountable. It's about changing the way corporations affect our government so that the negative affects as per the first statement are not allowable, and so the voice of the people to be heard in the democratic process is not dependent on how much money you earn. OWS is not specifically affiliated with any political party, as these issues do not affect one political party or another, but all Americans. OWS protesters are not a bunch of hippies, but demographically come from all religions, educational backgrounds, ages, races, genders, and political affiliations. The system is broken - we cannot appeal to it to fix itself. We cannot be foolish enough to think that corporations and other institutions will police themselves left to their own devices. OWS is leaderless, and decisions are based on those who vote at the general assembly disscussions held in each city. Please educate yourselves.

Occupy: What a fricken joke you people are. 99% v. the 1%? Yeah right. Try this: NYC has 8,175,000 people and you have all of 3,000 protesting. Guess who is the ridiculously small (and soon to be forgotten) group of elitist trying to push their views on everyone else?

Go visit the recent Fox news poll - out of 200,000+ people, 70% said they were in favor of Occupy Wall St. Not everyone can come to a protest due to circumstances in their lives. The great majority of people are in favor however.

I hate the pandering to "patriotism", most of it false. If anything has ever made me feel patriotic or proud of Americans OWS is it!!!!

Even here in Atlanta a shout out to 98.5 FM DJ (Cox communications sub) Jordan Graye for sneaking in a comment of support for Occupy Atlanta on the air...her overlords didn't catch her and we've corresponded since. That little "resistance" on her part is another symbol of how serious the support across the country for OWS is!!!

What we need to aim for is world wide legislation that gives shareholders a direct vote in executive remuneration.

It would be great to have worldwide restrictions on executive wages - something like no one in the company can earn or be rewarded in any way more than 20 times that given to the lowest paid worker or contractor in that company.

Damn right!
They can bribe politicians and get away with it, but they'll never bribe an informed and pissed off Body Public!
We have proven in the past few weeks that we're corruption proof. What're they gonna do, pay us to go away? We'll just buy what we need, and yell at them louder!

I am hoping that some real legislation changes will be made as a result of this occupation.

Large companies who practice poor environmental policies should be fined and/or taxed accordingly to their corruption of the environment. The development of an "environmental burden tax" is a great way to generate government jobs, and revenue.

The elimination of socialist policies in the U.S., such as mandating health coverage by employers. People should be able to purchase Health Insurance on a free market, not forced to buy over priced policies from their companies.

Corporations that exceed $1Billion a year in revenue should mandate their top salary earners to donate 10% of their salaries to the social security fund. Every dollar collected by the corporation in this manner will then be counted twice for tax write-offs.

Sales tax should be elimated for businesses who qualify as a "buy local" organization, farmers markets, craft fairs, artists, musicians, performing arts, street vendors and any individual selling their own hand made products.

People should be allowed to vend, sell and trade anywhere on public property without a permit.

Cell phone companies, Insurance Companies, Banks, and Cable Companies should not be allowed to force contracts with their customers in order to provide services. Customers should have the right to cancel services without penalty at any time.

Car companies should be rewarded when their newer car model's CO2 emissions decrease, and penalized if they make cars with worse CO2 emissions.

Public Transportation committees developed and "community focused" overhauls to Public Transportation systems country-wide should be endorsed and funded by a percentage of the profits investors earn on Wall Street. The “Wall Street Tax” will be a specialty tax on profits earned via investments through Wall Street, and the allocated funds to be used on development of better public transportation methods.

The United States Post Office should remain 6 days a week.

College loans should not be "untouchable" and allowed to be dismissed in bankruptcy cases.

Legislation should be passed to forbid any government department, official or agency the ability to grant funds to any company for "bail-out" purposes.

Money spent on improving the environment for any individual, company or small business owner should be tax deductable and ALSO given a 1% cash back reward tax return on said purchases.
(give the bigger companies new incentives)

Any corporation that uses pesticides or any known harmful chemical on, around or by their company’s and worksites should be fined $100 per ounce.

Some interesting, and valid, ideas. You can't expect too much right off the bat, tho. One step at a time. I think you should submit those ideas to the OWS (not just here on the comment page). You never know.

last words if after oct 15 you leav and think everythings will be ok you must be out of your mind you must put the presure up to the end and they said they got massage you are in for bigger hole so if start somthing which is right for country better finished with any cost and stay a way from democ and repub polition both are no good and corupt do not give up at any situation and get stronger and orgnaize with out polition other wise its gone be same story

Please prepare yourselves for the ultimate 'victory' - what the 'fight' is ultimately all about -- re-storing a meaningful voice and presence for all citizens within the democratic process. Worldwide.

Preparing for such a victory requires an inclusive form of engagement among people - human bridge-building, not fighting and polarization.

This movement is genuinely about the 99% ... please begin NOW with the practice of seeing that 99% in each of the people who are around you. Police, businessmen, road crews.... (The 1% are invisible, out of sight and seemingly out of reach ... those working on their payrolls are not them - do not mistake & attack the messengers.)

Commonality and inclusivity are the only way forward. This is how Gandhi and King's messages prevailed. You are already practicing living in common with one another in the many cities of 'occupation'. Extend these human bridges from your minds and hearts to encompass the 99% of people who may not yet seem to be 'with you', but ARE YOU.

Then, you can 'win' the only possible 'victory' - being seen and heard and understood as a constructive voice of responsible intelligent governance, restoring the voice and will of the many to democracy.

Millions of hearts are with you - mine included.
Thank you for your dedication.
Patty

TO the FRONT DESK Staff... .... are there any notifications as to YOU being behind the offers on Line for OWS Buttons.. We need to know that the proceeds go to supporting the Protest. Please print something about this. TY, and, you may want to look into anyone willing to Donate those Buttons to this Universal Cause. Let me know if you need someone to work on that for you..

And the "liberal/progressive" agenda organizations that actively and openly campaigned for Obama? Most of them are openly supporting OWS as well. Did you catch that? The same groups and Democratic politicians are backing OWS that backed the Bank Bailout, the stimulus package, legislation that BENEFITS banks, and that accept millions of dollars from the 1% every year.

SEIU (the Unions who came down to support you)
The Tides Foundation
Acorn (not gone, just renamed-in New York City, Acorn became New York Communities for Change)
Color of Change (Van Jones-who came down to support OWS)
Moveon

"The enemy is among us." It should be expected that "the other side" would try to infiltrate this movement for their own aims. I assume OWS and the others are smart enough to know this. Let's hope so. They (we) should be skeptical about ANY corporation, media outlet, politician, 1%er, entertainer, etc. that claims to be "behind" the movement. They have nothing to lose, and a lot to gain, by undermining this thing. This is going to be a much harder uphill battle than most people realize.

I'm not at all surprised. The liars and thieves (and the ignorant saps they manged to dupe) think that we're Teabagger 2.0, or are trying to turn us into Teabagger 2.0, and/or are openly trying to crush us. I think most of us are onto that bullshit.

Take this to heart. Any blood money they try to pay us off with can and will be used as a weapon against them. The Occupations need supplies, that's a fact. Those supplies aren't free, that too is fact. But we're not shutting up, we're not going away. We'll simply use those "donations" to entrench deeper and harden our positions. They're not fucking us, oh no, not any more. The line has been drawn and it won't be crossed. We're fucking them.

If you can insure that everyone in the movement will see the truth and rise up to use that information against them in the future-then more power to you. The truth will be in who ends up smoking the cigarettes after the final screwing and who are tossed to the curb as yesterday's news.

Can I personally insure that? No. I'm just one voice in a choir of thousands. I don't lead the band and honestly wouldn't want to. The movement so far has been democratic by consensus, and I hope it stays that way. There are no presidents among us, nor should there be.

I can only toss out reasonably educated ideas to be thinktanked, kicked around, and voted on, and I'm cool with that. That's how a real republic should work, you dig?

The scene going down in DC is a farce, only pretending to be a republic.

I guess that's what the naysayers and venom spitters in the media can't wrap their minds around. Their loss.

To expand on that while I'm thinking about it, I'm glad some of the military is behind our cause.
To hear the soldiers say, "I went over there to get shot at and blown up by people that didn't want me there, so Big Petro can steal their oil. Then come home, only to find Big Bank has ripped me off. Is this what I fought for, those god damned leeches? That is bullshit man!"
No need to convince those guys.

Wall Street's icon is a big bull, and it manages to produce a lot of bullshit. Yup, makes perfect sense.

"Too big to fail" are the same words that were used to describe the bailout for the banks when people speculated that it would only result in a collapse later. Watch your syntax so protestors don't end up spouting the same rhetoric that we hear from lying officials.

When housing prices began to take a dive, revenues to state and local governments plummeted. Housing construction shuddered to a halt, creating ranks of unemployed workers who began drawing unemployment benefits rather than paying local taxes on their previously middle-class salaries. The businesses of suppliers and service-providers to contractors were forced into downturn. And many states continued to cut taxes, causing a perfect storm of budget woes for the states.

Yet who got the blame for this economic morass? Public-sector employees and their unions, who have been made the scapegoats for a budget crisis that had nothing to do with them—convenient targets for the right-wing forces that seek an end to unionization in all sectors.

According to the FBI, the mortgage crisis was almost entirely the fault of lenders behaving unethically and, at times, illegally. They informed Bush all the way back in 2004. He refused to act. They told Obama in 2008. He refused to act. Both presidents blocked the FBI from pursuing the matter.

We elected representatives that encouraged riskier loans in the name of greater home ownership, We looked the other way when our representatives failed to enforce regulations over the investment firms that created the risky mortgage backed securities. In 2008, we again elected incompetents that promised to fix the problems.

I think it sucks when uninformed people blame the little guy for this country's problems. When politicians are elected, there's an expectation they will do right for the people, but time and again they say one thing while running, then do another once they're elected. The last three elections were a farce. 2000 and 2004 were a downright crime. Literally. And let me let you in on a little secret. We don't elect the president, vice president, etc. The election process is an illusion. The electoral college is a smoke screen. They're chosen by those in power, then go thru the song-and-dance of an "election" to hoodwink the population into thinking we have a "say" in our government. We don't. Why do you think nothing seems to get any better? The elite never have, and never will, give the masses that kind of power. That's not a conspiracy theory, that's a fact. A few of us have finally figured that out.

Then the banks also have personal responsibility to not try and attempt to screw people. It did not work for me but some people are not as smart as others. We cannot elect people to represent us when the elections are dominated by wealthy and corporate money. Can I afford to run for office at a local level even? No. Wealthy money is now inundating local races. We need money out of politics.

Remember the days when it was honorable for kids to look up to the teacher, police, fireman, and other civil servants? Now the corporate scum and their cowardly politicians are demonizing the people who give us our services and help society. They want us to worship greedy bankers and ceos that are ruining our country by shipping our jobs and manufacturing overseas. I support my civil servants. They are honorable and serve the public. They are not in this to bleed profits from anything or everything like leeches they are. They hate government except when they want corporate welfare /public giveaways.

Well Done! I am so impressed with your peaceful and creative tenacity. Amassing morning support and moving forward with your own "clean up" was a perfect response to this thinly veiled attempt to end the occupation. I am hopeful you can work out some solutions (port-a-pots, dumpsters, etc.) to encourage a continued presence that does not as adversely affect the surrounding neighborhood. Should we all continue to call 311 to request that support?

Could OWS get behind these suggestions by Warren Buffet? They are fresh, vital ideas. A place to start.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12 . The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen.
Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

I believe that the protests should be in front of local, state and federal official buildings and not on Wall Street....that said, your post has it wrong in several ways........

Congress gets "No Tenure / No Pension" - A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

Obviously, there is no tenure for Congress - they must be re-elected full" pensions - the fact is that they retire with no more than 80% of their highest salary while in office. they have "choices" in what pension benefits they will receive and pay into their pension plans just like we do. Members of Congress are not eligible for a pension until they reach the age of 50,if they've completed 20 years of service. Members of Congress have to serve at least 5 years to even receive a pension.

"Prior to 1984, neither Members of Congress nor any other federal civil service employee paid Social Security taxes. Of course, they were also not eligible to receive Social Security benefits. Members of Congress and other federal employees were instead covered by a separate pension plan called the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). The 1983 amendments to the Social Security Act required federal employees first hired after 1983 to participate in Social Security. These amendments also required all Members of Congress to participate in Social Security as of January 1, 1984, regardless of when they first entered Congress. Because the CSRS was not designed to coordinate with Social Security, Congress directed the development of a new retirement plan for federal workers. The result was the Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of 1986." http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm

See 2. above

Technically, they are voting on whether or not they will receive a Cost of Living Adjustment.Apparently they have "rejected" a COLA for two out of the last four years but only after a public outcry against their getting raises while the majority of Americans were getting "pink slips" and hourly cuts and benefit cuts during the Great Recession and while our Senior Citizens had not received a COLA since 2008. I think I might support something that says that if our Senior Citizens don't get a COLA based upon the inflation rates then our Congress doesn't get one based upon the same data...that only seems fair doesn't it?

Members of Congress are covered by private insurance under the same system that covers all federal workers; the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, (covers more than 8 million other federal employees, retirees and their families). "Like other large employers, the government pays a large share of the cost of coverage. On average, the government pays 72 percent of the premiums for its workers, up to a maximum of 75 percent depending on the policy chosen. For example, the popular Blue Cross and Blue Shield standard fee-for-service family plan carries a total premium of $1,120.47 per month, of which the beneficiary pays $356.59. Washington, D.C.-based employees who prefer an HMO option might choose the Kaiser standard family plan. It carries a total premium of $629.46 per month, of which the employee pays only $157.36." http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/health-care-for-members-of-congress/ This is not much different than for any of us working for a larger company.

In 1994, when Republicans were in control of both House and Senate, Congress passed the Congressional Accountability Act (PL 104-1), which makes Congress be in compliance with Civil Rights Laws, Labor and Workplace Safety laws it had previously enacted. But it would be nice if the IRS went after those who cheat on their taxes the same way they go after average Americans now wouldn't it?

Part of this statement is factual - the Founding Fathers did expect that folks would serve for a time and then go home and live under the laws they had enacted and we've come a long way from that expectation when we have lifelong congress folks like Strom Thurmon who continually was re-elected even when he could no longer actively serve. But whose fault is that ultimately? WE elect these folks over and over again.

This is from a viral e-mail that has been shown to contain many inaccuracies, for example, the social security claim and the salary increase claim. Congress pays social security taxes, just like everyone else does. They have since 1984. Also, Congress does not vote themselves pay raises. Their salaries are determined by a cost-of-living formula unless they vote to decline them, which they have done the past two years.

Wall street created the real estate bubble and is responsible for all those foreclosures - really!!!!! Where is the personal responsibility of those who signed for the mortgage. They know what they make on a monthly basis and should know what they can pay. If this basic budget exercise is too much for the American people there is a serious problem with the American education system. We should be placing much of the blame on those who took on too much....personal responsibilty is lacking in the US. It is the give give give mentality that has failed us.

I couldn't sleep last night I was so worried about the OWS heroes. What a joyful day it is that thousands heeded the call to join the link of human protectors of freedom and liberty! They can CLAIM the decision was made last night, but that is nonsense. This morning they realized they either had to call off the dogs, or start the sort of revolution EVERYONE should want to avoid. I have gathered 15 people for tomorrow's protests, and I'm hoping to get at least 10 more. If everyone brings 5 people, just imagine how the numbers would compound! What a backdrop for October 15th: OWS 1, the elite: 0

as a hard worker in the finance industry, i feel like i'm a target. i don't make big bucks and just started working again after being unemployed for over a year and a half. There are tons of people who work in this industry like me and i hope you do not condemn all of us.
I make a decent living and pay more than my fair share of taxes - I do not want to pay more!! The wealthy need to spend money to turn this recession around in my opinion.

Trust me, YOU ARE NOT the 1%. My parents make a combined $190,000/yr...The highest income out of all of my good friends where I come from (there are some non-friends with higher incomes). That number puts my parents in between the 75th and 85th percentile of income earners...the reason for such a wide gap is because it is hard to figure out by using the IRS tax data.

Besides in my opinion, people who make less than 1,000,000/yr but more than 500k/yr are either doctors, college professors CEO's who pay themselves honestly, or CEO's who have built their company from the ground up. Households that make less than 2,000,000/yr. These folks and Athletes/Artists, who make a shit ton of money as well are not the problem.

Hell, the category of people I just described comprise the 97th and 98th percentile of this country, i.e. they are in the bottom 99%. And they work damn hard.

If a CEO is making 500k a year or more, I don't think they've done so by working from the ground up. 500k is a shitload of money, and I don't think they're paying themselves honestly. And it's hard to believe a college professor would make that much or even a doctor. I can see a lawyer making that much, since the going rate (in my area) is $300/hr.

College professors easily make that much money. There is a professor at my school, Georgia Tech, who you have never heard of, and he gets paid 250k/yr. He drives a Ferrari. Imagine what Noam Chomsky, Alan Dershowitz and Michiu Kaku get paid. Those are names recognizable by even the average American. The average salary of a Neurosurgeon is 790k/yr. The good ones easily make over 1 M. What do you think Sanjay Gupta gets paid? probably over 1 M. really good docs get paid a lot.

500k/yr is not at all exorbitant. Like I said, my parents make 190k/yr and they are struggling to send me to college. Me and my brother are going to be in college at the same time for probably 2 yrs...they won't have enough money without going into debt. They make so much money that I do not qualify for certain student loans. In order to pay for me to go to GT they will have to co-sign a loan. Keep in mind that GT is one of the cheapest colleges in the country. 8k a semester is all it costs.

If someone starts a chain of restaurants in Atlanta and over the course of 25 years they build 20 in the Atlanta area, they could easily be making around 500k/yr and they deserve to.

500k and 250k are quite different, aren't they? And I never said anything about your parents making too much, did I? For what you have said about them not being able to afford sending both you and your brother to college at the same time, you should be agreeing with me. As I said, some people's salaries are inflated beyond reason.

I agree about someone who starts a chain of restaurants. Do all CEOs do that? I highly doubt it.

True, not all CEO's do that...I guess I never said it here, but on a different post I said a CEO that makes 750k while the next guy in line makes 200k is reasonable. I mean it is reasonable to get paid 4-5 times the next guy...too much more than a factor of 5 though and you become unreasonable...that's just my view.

I never implied you said anything about my parents. The Fed says they make too much. And the whole point of my parents was that 190k/yr is not all it's cracked up to be, if it's cracked up at all. I have no more luxuries than my friends whose parents make less. In fact, I go shopping less often than my friends...I feel less wealthy than or as wealthy as them, even though my parents make more money. This has led me to the conclusion that 250k/yr probly isn't all it's cracked up to be either. It's not until you get into the 1.2 and 2 M/yr range that income becomes exorbitant. There is such a thing as reasonable luxury and my belief is that somewhere in between 1M/yr and 1.5M/yr is the upper limits of reasonable luxury, except in the case of Athletes, Doctors, Professors, Artists (of all kinds), and self-made CEO's.

The reason I voice concern is that there seem to be a lot of people who think 250k/yr is a lot of money...well, unless you move into a piece of shit house (shit can be defined as the house itself and/or it's property value as both greatly affect the price), it isn't that much money. Now, I'm not a parent, so I have no idea the thoughts that go through ones mind when they imagine living next to thugs/rednecks and having their kids develop friendships with these people and possibly try to emulate them, but as of right now I would not mind living in a rather crappy house that way I can get cool stuff, but as a parent I may find myself wanting as nice a neighborhood as possible for my kids sake, which is why the reasonable luxury income has such a high upper limit. and of course being able to afford nice cars, multiple cars, a boat, and vacations all go into the reasonable luxury income calculation as well. Just for clarification so that I don't sound like a "defend the rich" guy, notice reasonable luxury, with luxury being the operative word. Those things are all luxuries, but they are luxuries that are reasonable to afford if you work hard.

I also don't think $250k a year is an extreme amount of money. I see it as upper middle class/lower upper class (the borderline of getting into upper class). 500k is much different though. Even though it still isn't extremely extreme, it is a lot of money. A lot of the salaries out there for certain fields are out of control. The jobs that are the toughest, most valuable, and the most dangerous to do do not get rewarded as such, while those that are more superficial do.

Please read some of the posters again. It's not about six figure salaries, even Sanjay's one million. It is about huge corporations who do not pay their fair share, continue to outsource jobs, and crooked politicians.

andrewpatrick46 - I totally agree with you. Since I have been at OWS NYC for two weeks today, I can tell you that the true message there is NOT criticizing six figure salaries or even a million. You are the 99% and pay huge amounts of taxes and struggle while GE made a $14.2 billion profit but received a $3.2 billion federal tax refund. It probably helped that they are the biggest lobbying group in DC ($6.8 million a quarter) (now there's some tuition and book money huh?!) :-)

I never said people making less than a million are thieves. I'm talking about people making 500k and more and not doing the work to justify that. Should a college basketball/other sports coach make 500k or a million or more.... especially at a public university when other university workers are paid poverty-level wages?

actually yes, Nick Saban is worth every dime Alabama pays him. If their team was not good, they would not bring in anywhere near the amount of revenue from merchandise sale (Think Julio Jones and Mark Ingram jerseys), boosters, television contracts, ticket sales, etc. Not to mention that the more high paid NFL players graduate from your school the more money you make when they donate part of their fortune to you. Same goes for Coach K at Duke. Notre Dame is the best example of this. If ND hires a good coach that fields a good team, the amount of money that NBC pays them in the TV contract goes through the roof. ND could pay a crappy coach 100k/yr and get a $2M contract, or they could pay a good coach 1M/yr and get a $25M contract. Plus getting to a BCS bowl gets the school an automatic $5M reward or something like that, so a good coach that gets your team to a BCS Bowl gets you a a lot of money. Besides, at public and private universities only janitors are paid poorly.

Football and Basketball pretty much pay for all other sports at a school plus a little extra, which is why college baseball and softball and volleyball coaches don't make a lot of money at all and only the football and basketball coaches do.

These aren't the most obvious things in the world though. the only reason I know this is cause I'm a huge sports fan and have talked with my friends about it and have come to conclusions through research.

If you aren't the 1%, then you aren't the target. There are a lot of you out there in the finance industry who are just trying to make an honest living. The difference is, you didn't bankrupt the nation, and you haven't taken from the taxpayers after doing so. It's the 1% and the government who are guilty in this. Good luck to you, and stay honest.

I also work in the banking and financial services industry. I don't feel like a target. I support OWS 100%. This is not about the people who make a "decent" living. This is about the people who make an obscene amount of money by corrupting our government. We want EVERYONE to be able to make a decent living.

Finance is needed to create businesses and jobs. The problem is not this area. The problem is in the areas of finance that have degenerated into simple gambling with the wealth of the entire nation. I am a professor of finance and every year take satisfaction from seeing my graduates found real businesses employing real people. Yours is a great profession, if only the sociopaths could be kicked out, or better yet, find that finance has no place for them.

I wish I could feel sorry for you but I don't. I worked as a scientist and ended up quitting my job when I realized that my research was being skewed toward corporate interests. I dropped my lab coat and walked out and since then, I have faced enormous challenges...forced to change career because whistleblowers are not liked by their peers, almost homeless at one point. But, all that adversity made me stronger and wiser and now I own my own small company. Despite your struggles, you have chosen to advance the corrupt bankers of this country by keeping them operating as they do. My brother is a VP of Wells Fargo and I make no excuses for him either even though I know he's a very upright honest man who would never do anything illegal or wrong. But, even so, he gets up every morning and contributes to Wells Fargo's corrupt agenda. Again, I'm sorry that I cannot be more forgiving. I'm totally fed up and as long as there are people like you who will work for these crooks, then the crooks will always be in business. Come work for me pulling weeds. You may not make as much money but I guarantee you will have great karma, a nice tan, loads of Vitamin D3, and a happier and more fulfilled spirit.

you're comment is a form of 'competitive altruism', not good for YOUR karma.

think about it...you're approach condemns everyone in the financial industry...oil industry?...armed services?...insurance? ...there's a lot of corruption within large organizations including all forms of government, religion and business endeavors.

Actually it is good for my karma because I live every day knowing that I'm not contributing to the demise of my country. There's no corruption in my business and never will be. The worst thing that I do is pay taxes that are used to fund wars that I do not approve of but I must pay those taxes in order to keep my employees working. If someone like my brother or the fellow above feels the need to work in the financial sector, then they should at the very least openly show their support of what is right and be internal instruments of change but that's really tough and will probably lose their job and they know it. So why are they there? Just for income? Isn't it time that we assign more value to our purpose in life?

Gillian wrote "isn't it time that we assign more value to our purpose in life?"

That sounds awesome. Yet how do we implement it? You say those people should, like you, quit their jobs. Are you going to employ all of those who heed your call? Will you donate to their grocery bill, their light bill, their rent or mortgage, the gas in their cars? I guess they could quit and go to Wall Street and live in that park and have their food donated to them right? And what about afterwards?

Please, suggest real life solutions to this issue - not sentimental ideas that promise a utopia that is not a realistic outcome of this occupation.

When I see the encampments move to the Government Buildings, then I'll begin to support this movement.

My ideas are not utopian and would be quite effective if people would actually have the courage to leave their banks, quit their jobs if they are working for a crook and do the right things in the presence of wrong doings. People are fearful because they have been brainwashed to believe that they are all alone in this country and that no one will be there to help them or support them. BTW, I do hire the unemployed folks in my area as often as I can even if it's just enough to put some food on their table each week. I can't tell someone else how to live their lives but for me, it's important that I align my life and work with my ethics and values and yes, it's never easy but I know that I'm doing the best I can in every moment to make the best choices that I can for humanity. When I quit my job as scientist, I felt terribly disillusioned and betrayed by my peers who I believed had integrity. I thought they would be glad that I was honest and did the only right thing. I was wrong. I spent two years wondering if I was a loser because I couldn't just row with the flow of the status quo.. But, today I would do it again because I know that I can't go to my grave contributing to anyone's suffering in this world. In every thing you do, you have a choice and complying with what you know is wrong because it's easier is one of those choices. If that works for you, fine. But, every one of us commands good or bad character from others, our government and corporate america. Change will only begin when we command better character from ourselves.

Now, in this post of yours, there is nothing to disagree with. But commanding "better character from ourselves" doesn't require marching on Wall Street with a "Trojan Horse" hiding the fact that the originators of this movement - in their own words on August 12th - truly are after the "overthrow of Capitalism". In that I don't believe they represent the "99%" despite the accusations thrown out that if you don't support them you are a "brain washed slave" to the system.

Officially the DOL says that the unemployment rate is at 9.1%. But people whose unemployment benefits have run out are no longer considered "unemployed", which is ridiculous in a recession. The "accepted" unofficial unemployment rate hovers around 15%. According to several watchdog groups, the unofficial unemployment rate in the U.S. is actually a hair under 24%. 9% is unacceptable in itself.

We are in a recession? OH MY! ( wink, wink) according to the news, we were just preparing for the ' double dip'. Excellent point about the unemployment rate. 45 percent of my church members alone are unemployed. It's the worst we've ever seen. None of the stats that we receive regarding anything in this country are accurate.

It is not aimed at workers like you notallbad. You ARE part of the 99%. People working hard anywhere at any job, those unemployed by the economic turndown, those whose pensions, 401k's have disappeared, those who have lost their homes, their dreams. Occupy "Wall Street" is a symbolism of the greed of the 1% destroying our country and way of life, and the politicians they buy who assist them. You mentioned you had been unemployed for a year and a half. I take it you are not a "bum" like many who criticize the movement like to portray us. Yet because of
outsourcing and lack of jobs, you were negatively affected and unable to find work. We wish you well notalllbad. Stop by one day and see that
we are notallbad either and there is no hatred here. We are everyday people for the people.

there are some things I don't like about unions, but one of the things I like is the fact that they have balls. they will stand up to anybody and they have such a large money pot and great connection that they will not succumb to fear of the consequences.

GE was the largest lobbying group in DC. GE's CEO doubled his salary from the previous year to $15.2 million. GE's PROFITwas $14.2 billion. GE's FEDERAL TAX REFUND was $3.2 billion. Right now McCain (R) and Hagan (D) have a bill proposed to give corporations a tax holiday so they will bring some of the trillions of dollars they have offshore (which is not taxable - think Cayman Islands). Think tanks on the left and right both have said it will probably create few, if any, jobs in America. Rather, corporations will use loopholes to not pay any tax at all as they did under Bush in 2004. Outsourcing is made lucrative for corporations by politicians. The free trade agreements made two days ago with Panama, Columbia and South Korea already has companies outsourcing to those countries. It is not about equality of salaries. It is about corruption. America is no longer the country I grew up in where you had a chance to work hard and achieve the American dream.

Think Cayman Islands? OMG, this is exactly what is harming this movement. There is a tax treaty in place to avoid double taxation for international companies. The bill you are talking about is addressing this - not criminally place money in offshore accounts to hide it from taxation....geez.

You do make a few valid points though but please, get your facts straight.

Sorry, but Harry Reid cast the last "no" vote in order to bring it to the floor again in bits and pieces. You do know who Harry Reid is right? He is the Democrat that heads up the Senate and is responsible for allowing any bill to hit the floor in the first place. Why did he wait so long to bring it to the floor? Could it be that not all Democrats supported that bill?

Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.

It wasn't the cops or The Man that defeated them, it was the weather and lack of resources. There's only so much you can do when you're starving and freezing your asses off, and worrying about your kids.

They gave it their best shot and held out as long as they could. Salute!

it is good to hear such a nice news of winning and the way students, the trade unionists and other folks from different walk of life are participating reflects the change in their thinking . this victory is the victory of the 99% not only in the USA but globally.

it is good to hear such a nice news of winning and the way students, the trade unionists and other folks from different walk of life are participating reflects the change in their thinking . this victory is the victory of the 99% not only in the USA but globally.

NYPD made pretense to look like they postpone the cleanup and then trap protesters into clash so that they can use propaganda to say how human they are and what is wrong with protesters. I don’t believe the protesters want to be violent. Otherwise the protesters won’t clean up the park. Otherwise they won’t endure the brutal treatment again and again. Regardless how the mainstream media cover this, I believe what protesters do is peaceful demonstration. The media does not show how brutally the protesters were treated, but look at pictures posted on the Internet how the police rolled over the one person’s feet near the pavement. Protesters were arrested walking on the bridge, and protesters were arrested walking on the street and protesters were arrested on pavement, inside and outside a building. That simply intends to oppress down peoples’ peaceful protest because they are afraid people would rise up against the special privileged interest.

Every time the po goes on a powertrip rampage and starts beating up on protesters, it winds up going viral over the internet. The mainstream media may try real hard to keep it silent, but because we effectively bypass the censorship, they can't. The phrase epic fail fits the media like a well worn sneaker in this case.

We need to do a large scale banner drop campaign. Overpasses on Major freeways and on the pedestrian bridges as well. Large letters, painted dark on white sheets. Cut vent holes. Attach bungee cords to the corners for quick set up. DO NOT LET IT FALL ON TRAFFIC! Keep it on the inside on the chain link fence, make it big. 4 foot tall each letter, or it is hard to see from a distance. We are everywhere. Let each other know this!

OWS and the movement won this battle, but don't let your guard down for a moment.
You can bet your asses the bastards aren't done yet, and are even now brainstorming another plot to undermine the revolution.

WOOOOOO!!!! I am sooooo happy that they backed down!! I was worried about you guys and where you would make your homebase. I am excited about tomorrow and will be at the Occupy movement in my SMALL town!! #SOLIDARITY MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!!! I LOVE U ALL SO MUCH & AM SO PROUD OF HUMANITY!!!! MY HEROS!!!! <333333

WOOOOOO!!!! I am sooooo happy that they backed down!! I was worried about you guys and where you would make your homebase. I am excited about tomorrow and will be at the Occupy movement in my SMALL town!! #SOLIDARITY MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!!! I LOVE U ALL SO MUCH & AM SO PROUD OF HUMANITY!!!! MY HEROS!!!! <333333

I am a 56 father of two wonderful children. I went to college, paid my student loans, and even went on to earn graduate degrees. I have 22 years in as an educator in New Jersey and have been a school administrator since 1995. I have worked hard, sometimes two or more jobs to pay the bills. What's my point? I have been (quietly) predicting a revolution for some time now. I have asked my own high school and college aged children why don't young people rise up and demonstrate for their rights and they say they are afraid to be arrested. It is about time people across the world speak on behalf of THE MIDDLE CLASS. And despite what the corporate media would have us all believe there is a clear agenda. Banks, corporations, insurance companies, doctors, lawyers, high level executives and yes Wall Street getting rich on the backs of us all. I have watched as a silent American the decline of our great nation due to greed. During our economic boom we all did pretty well financially but as our salaries lost ground corporate greed raised costs in gas, food and all goods and services. This has to stop! In 2003 gas was a buck. Now it is 3-4 times that much. Did your salary increase that much? All other goods and services have gone up exponentially while income has not kept up at all. I lost all I had in home equity, as I had to take everything out just to pay college tuition for my child. Some American Dream! Since Reganomics I watched American manufacturing go to other countries that have become wealthy on the backs of middle class America while the bottom line for big business increases and jobs are lost. I do not support any political party but Republican policies are detrimental to the Middle class yet the sheep keep voting them in. This bully and creep Gov. Christie is a bloated big mouth who adds insult to injury by freezing middle class workers salaries and taxing us all with increases in deductions due to his party raping the pension formula. What is the matter with you sheep who buy into the anti-union rhetoric? Unions built America and you are destroying everything they did for us. I loved this country but this is not the America my father fought 2 wars for and I believed in. I am disgusted with, health care, fuel prices, party politics and corp. greed and you wimps in the media, the rebellion have a loud and sound agenda political hacks and greed. Pay attention as we will be another Egypt soon if we do not take care of our people.

I am so proud this morning, listening to Democracy Now, hearing the response of all of the protestors. Reacting in such a rational and peaceful manner to the threat of eviction strengthens the credibility of the movement exponentially, and makes this victory all the more sweet. I wish I could be there with you, but I am in the process of starting a small permaculture homestead in CA (my way of opting out of this corrupt system ). I will be marching in San Francisco on Saturday. Power to the people!

Haha, even the mere threat of eviction brought a ginormous public backlash. Bloomberg's phone rang off the wall. Imagine that magnified 1000% if Bloomberg went through with it. Exponential if there was more po brutality; Bloomberg would be committing political sueside by not backing down, and he knows it.

Campaign Finance needs to be reformed. The Supreme Court's decision on this is just unbelievable. Between this and lobbyists (who need to work under tighter rules) our government is run by big business. We also need to get rid of the Electoral College. It is outdated. It was set up in a time where we did not have the technology we do today. The President should be elected by a MAJORITY of the people as intended.

Campaign Finance needs to be reformed. The Supreme Court's decision on this is just unbelievable. Between this and lobbyists (who need to work under tighter rules) our government is run by big business. We also need to get rid of the Electoral College. It is outdated. It was set up in a time where we did not have the technology we do today. The President should be elected by a MAJORITY of the people as intended.

Tell your businesses you frequent to drop the Chamber of Commerce; a treasonist organization that has been behind the outsourcing to China craze. They are responsible for the job losses for 30 years or so.

Slavery? So, Americans are forced by Wall Street to work for no money? They are whipped and lynched from a tree for choosing to leave and go to other employment? They can't move from one town or county or state or even another country by Wall Street? They are forced by "debt slavery" to work indefinitely for one company or person?

I guess if you consider needing to pay for electricity and water and food and shelter rather than having it provided to you for "free" and so being forced to earn an income as "slavery", which is what it appears your definition is, then yes - I guess my not joining you is interpreted by you as my supporting slavery.

But maybe that is because my understanding of the definition of slavery is different from yours.

A flash lesson in Modern Slavery 101 for dummies, Republicans and Teabaggers:

My American job that I could have been making a decent wage at got shipped off to China. I got left holding the bag by a company that doesn't give a shit.
Meanwhile the Chinaman that's now working my American job is getting paid peanut husks, if he's getting paid at all, likely with an AK pointed at his head, by a company that doesn't give a shit.

That's the definition of slavery these days. Have you learned anything yet?

I'm inclined to think you're rattling your empty skull just to make noise, "Concerned". You don't sound very concerned at all.

I apologize for the jabs, but you were sort of asking for it. You were coming off as an uppity git from how I was reading it, and I'm self taught to put jerks in their place in no uncertain terms. Mistakes happen, and I come to realize we're on the same team. No hard feelings?

After all, we have bigger jerks to slap down, and we should be focusing our fighting energy on them, not each other.

Keep focused on the unified vision and do not get distracted by problems, eviction from the park, for example. As John Lennon once wrote, "There are no problems, only solutions." I am sure that the people who cannot be there for whatever reasons are with you in spirit and will offer solutions. Right now, we also have to figure how to stay several steps ahead and how we are going to keep all of you warm and healthy when it gets colder. I forget what you call them, but people might want start donating those little things you put in your hands to keep them warm. They might be useful in other ways too. Remember to spray Eucalyptus in the air to help fight infection and be sure to get extra Vitamin C (not medical advice). Great good luck to all of you! Thanks for your courage!

WTG!!!!!!!!! I will be joining forces at Woodruff Park in Atlanta GA on OCTOBER 15TH!!!! It is waaaaaaaay past time that 'we' 1% let our voices be heard for freedom and 'financial justice'!!!!! (like NYC, we are also being 'evicted' on Monday!!!!) hope it remains peaceful........

Enough of us can Win, change the World, and save the Planet. I watched you bullied and handcuffed, and dragged off, bleeding, and Brave. And then, the streets filled, and Victory! Thank You All 3000! The real Patriots have stood up and won! And all 300000 who contributed, and all, around the globe, who are fair minded, and who love freedom.

The “Working Families Party” which is run by Obama’s “Karl Rove type of guy” (White House political director Patrick Gaspard). This is a white House operation people! Obama political advisor Patrick Gaspard holds the same White House position his Bush-era predecessor, Karl Rove, did. But before he was the White House political czar he worked in several far left organizations as activist and agitator.

One of the more disturbing aspects of the Obama-ACORN connection is that the White House political affairs director is one Patrick Gaspard.

New York’s Working Families Party was first organized in 1998 by a coalition of labor unions, ACORN and other community organizations, members of the now-inactive national New Party, and a variety of public interest groups such as Citizen Action of New York.

Former UFT NYC teacher and current NEA/Bridgeport Education Ass'n teacher here. What we couldn't do against the coming war in Iraq with 100,000 on 2nd avenue in the winter of 2003, you are beginning to accomplish with both fewer -- those in Liberty Park, and more -- those of us with you in spirit, online, and watching the live feed. God speed.

Former UFT NYC teacher and current NEA/Bridgeport Education Ass'n teacher here. What we couldn't do against the coming war in Iraq with 100,000 on 2nd avenue in the winter of 2003, you are beginning to accomplish with both fewer -- those in Liberty Park, and more -- those of us with you in spirit, online, and watching the live feed. God speed.

You said "We are Winning" and "Wall st. is afraid". I don't get it... What exactly have we won?

Don't get me wrong, I am all for this protest, but I feel there NEEDS to be a common list of demands that actually DO something for the cause, where media and the masses have no choice but to take this revolution seriously. Otherwise people are just saying protesters are dirty hippies causing chaos.

What has happened is more that Bloomberg realized that by outing the protestors - it will incite and further enrage the movement. It will give a larger rallying cry.

The assumption is that you will fold as nothing changes. Something I'm starting to believe as well as I watch the movement become co-opted by a political ideology rather than the mindset of getting a voice for 99% of Americans.

Political ideology? Which one, the Republicans/Teabaggers that would like see the movement crushed and silenced, and hurl lies, vitriol, and police at us from the sidelines? Or the Democrats, who pretend to be passively interested but won't lift a finger except to take bribes to do nothing? One can't be trusted, and the other is fuckin' useless. Evil is evil either way.

The liberal co-opting. This movement seems very intent on trying to be the mirror image of what the Tea Party became. Whereas the Tea Party became an ultra-right wing movement co-opted by the Republican party. This movement is sowing seeds of becoming an ultra-left wing movement co-opted by the Democratic party.

Maybe not the 'liberal' that got the bad press and scorn, mostly heaped on by Repubs by the dump truck load, but rather 'liberal' as in liberated from the debt entrapment and royal screwing we're all getting. But then the Repubs don't want that brand of 'liberal' either, it gets in the way of their extremist Christianity, turning schools into churches and fleecing the sheep and beating gays, women, children, commies and hippies up, and their favorite sport of blowing shit up and killing people.

Yeah, like we really want to be like Republicans. Never in a billion years. At least Dems don't have to pretend to be religious to cover for a lack of soul.

Dems are just useless politically these days, at least for the Occupancy movement's causes.

It's not about political ideology. No political thought or position will be represented properly in this broken and corrupt system.

So, when I see the liberal aspect taking hold and insulting the conservative/Republican base -- I think the movement has lost it's way.

The movement should be about uniting to get our government to represent the people again and no longer serving the corporate masters. This isn't partisan and everyone can agree.

They say 75-85% of Americans are unhappy with the way things are. If you can motivate 10% of that number, regardless of political ideology, you will have an amazingly strong movement and force change. If you get 40-50% of the liberal base motivated, you'll be fewer in number and fight tooth and nail against those that would otherwise support you.

"t's not about political ideology. No political thought or position will be represented properly in this broken and corrupt system."

True.

"So, when I see the liberal aspect taking hold and insulting the conservative/Republican base -- I think the movement has lost it's way."

Yeah, I let my spirited old mouth slide into full-auto mode there. My bad. As soon as the movement started to pick up speed, here came the slurs, negativity, and full-on assholeness from the press and media. I took note of the loudest and nastiest offenders, noticed they were all conservative Repubs, and coincidentally the same jerks that give Obama and Ron Paul a hard time. It was connecting the dots and digging around the networks from there, and it is a concerted, organized effort to slur and discredit the movement straight from the most hardline guys running the GOP. Not kidding. One has to wonder why they despise a grassroots movement of concerned patriots so much. Follow the money trail, man, follow the money trail.

"The movement should be about uniting to get our government to represent the people again and no longer serving the corporate masters. This isn't partisan and everyone can agree."

Right on, dude. I seriously hope it's possible.

"They say 75-85% of Americans are unhappy with the way things are. If you can motivate 10% of that number, regardless of political ideology, you will have an amazingly strong movement and force change. If you get 40-50% of the liberal base motivated, you'll be fewer in number and fight tooth and nail against those that would otherwise support you."

'Unhappy' is a nice way of putting it. I think the sentiment is somewhat stronger than that, to be honest. But yeah, agree with you there. Politically, I'm Indy leaning progressive. I did put one behind Obama, though; like many others I believed he actually could kick ass, clean house, and deliver the reform we desperately needed and still do, and his tan job didn't matter. Why the hell should that be an issue? He was the right guy for the job, or so he told us. The conservatives made it an issue, but I bet it was more than that. Follow the money.

Oh yes, it's clear, the money has DC by the short hairs. It's going to be a bitch to root it out, but I'm in for the long haul, or as long a haul as I can afford.

Every small victory is a step in the right direction. The strength of this movement is that it has no leader - no One person or One ideology to be attacked. The general assemblies are a working model of real democracy in action - their very structure does not allow the movement to be co-opted.

But I ask if the general assembly is actually getting a true representation of the people's voice? As the movement becomes internally co-opted by a political ideology - it naturally repels people of different ideals. Thus fostering and adopting the current divide that is ripping apart our nation.

So, in theory, I do agree. I'm wondering what is happening outside the laboratory.

I know I am slowly losing affiliation with the group because of this mentality. What once started as a movement to end money in politics has devolved into this plethora of purely liberal ideals ... it has diluted the original pillar that seemed to start the movement.

In think that is all the more reason why we should continue to be involved and make our voices heard within the movement - to not let it get sidetracked from the primary root of getting money out of politics. General assemblies may be just in a 'laboratory' stage, but it has to start somewhere. We can't all be physically present in NY to add our voices to the general assemblies there. But we can stand up right where we are and work with those around us. This is YOUR movement too, if you make it so. Don't get discouraged if it appears that a political ideology is taking over, continue to remind anyone who will listen that this is much deeper than mere politics. If we keep bringing attention to the root causes (such as money in politics) we can keep the movement focused on the 'original pillar'.

I need a real definition of what this movement considered the beginning of greed - at what point is someone considered "greedy"? Because if the war is against "greed" and greed has too loose of a definition - then many of the so called 99% may actually be the enemy...

You are laughing at this? Try to buy a light bulb made in America lately? In my neck of the woods, you have to go online to purchase a light bulb made here and not in China. Just where were the light bulbs in the place you lay your head at night purchased? From a company - like GE - that has outsourced all light bulb manufacturing to China or from one of those on line made in America companies that are fighting to survive?

I'm just laughing at the hypocrisy by repub party regarding China and Communism. I also have to make most of my purchases on the internet in order to find Made in USA products. Whatever I have to do I will do. Check out the osram sylvania for a Made in USA bulb. Very nice lumination too! Unfortunately, I had to buy them at the big box store Lowes. The link also contains other retailers that carry it.

I am glad people are protesting however they need to go to Washington to the government buildings i.e. White House, Congress and protest there. There should be one day where millions of people would be gathered - how about the movement sell white t-shirts with 99% in large black letters on the front of it (like a football jersey) to raise some money - or better yet get a sponsor to make the t-shirts and have a printer put on the 99%. This would make a great statement (who would wear a 1%). ASk some of the celebrities to throw in the money for the t-shirts (i.e. Michael Moore) as well as get some big names organizing the event. The international press would be all over it and the government couldn’t ignore it.

Because who controls the money supply is the critical question, I think you should advocate for an en masse default on credit card payments, student loans, on mortages that are underwater, and other loans.... The mega-banks, and politicians, that have wrecked our economy and destroyed our individual freedom, have been empowered by the cash flow from ordinary households. In essence, we have created a Frankenstein monster by just being honest and paying our bills on time. If the cash flow stops, the monstere will die. Strike a blow for freedom. Stop being a debt slave. Use your credit card bill for toilet paper. I also believe that we should boycott the coming election. To vote is to give new life to the monster. Angle Iron in Seattle

That is a great idea. Because Wall Street forced us all to get credit cards to pay for the large flat screen tv's we all own as well as the Blue Ray DVD player and the iphone, ipad, kindle and so on we "the poor" all have. And Wall Street forced us to buy a house instead of renting one.

How about this instead? The government has forced us all to wire our homes for electricity and public water supplies and then has outsourced the providers to monopolies where we cannot shop for the best price and service. How about we all stop paying for the electricity they force us to put in our homes and for the water they force us to pump into our homes? How about we demand free electricity and water?

Because who controls the money supply is the critical question, I think you should advocate for an en masse default on credit card payments, student loans, on mortages that are underwater, and other loans.... The mega-banks, and politicians, that have wrecked our economy and destroyed our individual freedom, have been empowered by the cash flow from ordinary households. In essence, we have created a Frankenstein monster by just being honest and paying our bills on time. If the cash flow stops, the monstere will die. Strike a blow for freedom. Stop being a debt slave. Use your credit card bill for toilet paper. I also believe that we should boycott the coming election. To vote is to give new life to the monster. Angle Iron in Seattle

Do not count on Congress to pass any laws that will further the cause of Occupy Wall Street. If we are to have any results, it will be though our own self-created laws == written by the 99%, nationally ratified with enough signatures to force a national vote, and voted on nationally. It should be an act of racketeering to lobby a public official -- by anyone, especially big business. The idea that companies like Monsanto can lobby congress to pass laws that will benefit them is disgusting. Secondly, force accountability of congress -- their vote must reflect the vote of their home constituency in all matters, especially spending. The horse and buggy days are gone. We no longer need congress-people to speak for us. We can speak for ourselves. That's the benefit of the internet. We all have it. If they cannot be forced to vote based on our will == then it's time for a constitutional convention, or worse. Wall Street and big business many be smart enough to steal all our assets from us, but how much smarts does it take to pull the release cord on a guillotine?

The Get Money Out movement, just two weeks old, is making amazing progress at doing just that. Nearly 200,000 signatures on a petition to return control to the 99% by amending the constitution so that money no longer is an influence.

Despite media claims to the contrary (they have A LOT to lose), this CAN BE DONE. We did it forty years ago to lower the voting age to 18. This cause is just as important, if not more so.

Every supporter of the 99% should go to getmoneyout.com and add their signature. The Occupy movement in solidarity with the Get Money Out movement can and will revolutionize America.

You keep cleaning and document I am a business owner who has not missed one payment and our damn bank is trying to just kick our ass further after pulling our seasonal line of credit. It just goes on stay the course the country save f in rush is with you

My college educated experienced son took one year to find a job I am a business owner and I employ but to place an ad today. Is heartbreaking due to the sheer numbers of over qualified who show up for one or two jobs many have lost homes your comment is at best wholly uninformed or worse you are just cruel

To paraphrase 'Scott Cruickshank' recently : "IF you can stay long enough to make the 1% realise that there's NO HOPE of ending the conflict on Their Terms & IF you can resist the urge to take The Token Olive Branch of NOTHING BUT EMPTY WORDS & IF you can make The 1% really hurt to the point they they can’t sleep at night knowing tomorrow the pain may be worse" ... then THE 99& will win this battle & get what WE want !

If we take the generally accepted definition of bravery as a quality which knows no fear, I have never seen a brave man. All men are frightened. The more intelligent they are, the more they are frightened.
George S. Patton

In Italy there wasn't any uprising before the occupation. Now they re doing something. They started occupy Banca d' Italia and protesting in front of GS. Not very peaceful actually...but still. Thanks to you guys...you' re waking up even italian people. This is a miracle :)

God bless all of you, all of you, men women of every race color and religion!
This is what America is about, and its because of #OWS efforts that makes me glad to be an American. We go through so much all of us, America needs this.
Reminds me of the remake of the Genesis song by disturbed, Land of Confusion. But we are peaceful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV4oYkIeGJc&ob=av3n I love all of you!

"@Tiffeh2009 Money is everything that i hear of ALL the FREAKING TIME! I am﻿ fucking tired of that. FUCK MONEY, I want freedom, life, happiness and love. Alright, we can't live without money, but do people need to have too much and want to take it from the ones who don't even have enough for themselves? This so called modern and technological world is full of lies, inequality and virtual exclusion. This XXI century is seeming to me more like the feudalism era, back in the IV or V century!"

Stop lying, bankster assholes. If you can't delude this kid, then you've lost.

A refreshing comment from a young person. Thanks for sharing. The younger generation has hope if they understand this. I will be a parent very soon, and I am taken back by the pride, power and determination OWS and their supporters have.
I wish you and America positive change MadAsHellInTX.

If you want to hurt the Robber Barons, hit them in the pockets by only purchasing MADE IN USA products. They are cheaper since you do not have to keep replacing foreign junk over and over. It actually saves you money. Why do you think the rich are so against this. I keep getting attacked by the corporate hacks on here.

Do you have a list of manufacturers and retailers that make things here? If so, could you post them somewhere? Target carries some Made In USA products and so do some other places, but they are hard to find. I ALWAYS read labels when purchasing something.

Now, there is something we agree upon SwissMiss - Buying American - start with your light bulbs since GE (Jeffrey Immelt Obama's Jobs Tzar) now makes them entirely in China....you can find American made bulbs on line...just google them.

SwissMiss: here are few. Please remember, if you can't find something on these sites then just google the product you are looking for and then add made in usa. e.g. "table lamp made in usa". In addition certain items are not made in usa anymore like a ceiling fans. Search hard if you don't see something at first since most products are still made in usa. If you are not sure contact the manufacturer to verify and get in writing/email.

I agree that there are a variety of businesses and banks that largely contributed to our current situation. But what about individual responsibility? If we are going to protest about what caused our economic issues, what about all of the people who can afford to pay their mortgages, but choose not to because their homes lost value. What about all the people who spend more than they make every month for things they don't really need. I go through a local credit union, and buy local, because I object to the way the big companies treat me as a customer. But lets not pretend that the so called 1% put a gun to our heads and forced us to buy things that were more than we could reasonably afford. Its takes two to tango.

I don't think people have walked away from their mortgages just because their homes lost value. I know plenty of people who own homes who've been victims of falling house values, and they haven't left their homes. I just bought a house, and I never would do that. I'd wait it out. Eventually, things will get better if we keep fighting.

Maybe a few people have done what you suggest, but that IS NOT the problem and the cause. And the jackasses on Wall Street and in the lending industry are the ones who caused those falling house values, so please stop blaming the people who own homes.

Actually there are people across the country who have chosen not to pay their mortgages because their homes have lost value, there have been several news stories about exactly this type of thing. I am glad you wouldn't do that, and don't know anyone who has. I agree the dropping home values have hurt many, myself included.

When you say that Wall Street and the lending industry are the ones to blame- Are you saying that people who agreed to buy and pay for homes that they couldn't afford have absolutely no responsibility in this? Are you saying that people in these situations aren't smart enough to be held accountable for their decisions or broken promises?

There is a family on my street who held a mortgage for 12+ years... but due to illness and 'under' employment fell behind in payments, and their home lost value. Were they smart enough...? Did someone hold a gun to their heads...? These are the wrong questions and wrong sentiments...they didn't share in Wall St's massive profits before and after WS's bailout, but certainly shared in their massive losses and paid a high personal price for WS fraudulent behavior and practices.

What does their home losing value have to do with them being unable to pay their mortgage? Did their mortgage payments change? Or did they not plan and save in advance for the possibility of an emergency?

True there are times when we can try our best to plan ahead and make good decisions, and things still fall apart. And that truly stinks. I am not sure what your neighbors situation was, maybe it was just a truly difficult situation. I hope that they are doing well.

Home values go up and down, so varying values are always a possibility. If you choose to ignore that possibility and take on a loan which will break you when home values plummet, then yes you share some of the fault for your situation. As do the do the unethical lenders.

Maroon -- people who make deals and have the means to keep them should -- agreed. But what about the very many who had a dream and were sold into rotten deals by very convincing money-grubbers? A daughter of a friend is one of those very many. She and her husband were persuaded by the mortgage lender that they could afford their balloon mortgage by simply refinancing or selling a few years down the road when the house increased in value. A few years down the road they couldn't make the "ballooned" monthlies and the house had lost 25% of its value. By the way, she works for the State and was forced by "austerity" measures to accept reduced pay and furloughs. Was she smart enough to be held accountable? Certainly. Was she culpable? Yes. But what could she and her husband do? Negotiate with the mortgage holder or walk away and foreclose. The lender would not negotiate (this after the 2008 bailout!). They walked away. So I ask you, were the mortgage lenders "innocent" in this deal? ... By the arguments you present, I can only assume that you favor the 1%. Who do you think will prevail in this argument in the end?

I don't claim that the financial industry is innocent. I have a cousin who also ended up in a mortgage they were unable to afford. Their mortgage lender was incredibly unethical and in the end he lost his job and his ability to work in the lending industry, and also received some fines. I have no problem with nailing people who lie and break the law to the wall.

At the same time, my cousin and her family had a responsibility to understand what they were getting into. Unfortunately they are still paying for this mistake today.

I agree that there are some situations where people end up in over their head, and there is no other choice but to foreclose. But the responsibility still lies on both sides of the table.

I can understand why it may seem that I favor the 1% from my comments. That is not the case. What I favor is personal responsibility and accountability from all parties. The 1% and the 99%.

So what does that personal responsibility look like? Yeah, they shouldn't have let themselves be sucked into unethical deals that got them what every American had come to expect with working 40 hour weeks (actually, two 40hr weeks since the two income family became the norm). But they did. So what now? But back to the key point: Wall St. is very much to blame for this situation. What created this situation was plain and simply greed -- which manifested itself in the form of lending instruments that were blatantly unsustainable and unethical. Those who created these instruments knew it, and then sold borrowers (as well as brokers, realtors, etc.) a bill of goods. Sure, personal responsibility is extremely important -- but don't let the greediest off the hook with that red-herring argument. Think it out!

I agree. But this actually all started with George Bush when he told America during one of his ' American Dream Initiative' speeches back in 2001 or 2002 that he wanted ALL Americans to be able to have a slice of the pie and that he was going to make it easy for every american to buy a home. As I listened to him I almost felt myself being lured into his ruse and I was SO wanting to buy a home. I kept thinking, ' This sounds too good to be true, certainly there will be consequences. But, after all, he is our president and he wouldn't lie to us, right?". yeah, right. Fortunately, my good Aussie economist friend told me NOT to purchase any home in order to stay mobile because the bottom would drop out, people would lose their jobs and may need to relocate. I guess we could blame some for being peter pans and believing in fairy tales Truth is that the government and corp america manipulated that situation in order to make trillions of dollars and they did. They want us to trust them and yet they are so quick to blame us when we are stupid enough to do so. We are constantly living between a rock and a hard place today. We are damned if we do and damned if we don't. Meanwhile, the fat cats at the top just sit back enjoying our suffering because they can now capitalize even more by preying on the weak and desperate. It's a brilliant plan that works really well for them.

See this is where so many of you lose me. You believe that the political movement to have all "Americans able to buy a home" began with Bush. Sorry, my friend, but it began before that.....In 1977 with the Community Reinvestment Act that lowered lending standards and allowed groups like Acorn to threaten discrimination suits against mortgage companies. Was Bush culpable? To a certain degree, but he also went before Congress asking for more regulations on the lending industries warning that the world's economy would be affected by the bubble that was forming. Its easy enough for you to research this online if you don't rely on only the liberal media to inform you.

You are so defensively right wing that it's almost laughable. You can't come up with a better defense than a video from Fox news? At least the video I posted was the actual Bush speech.
I'm not a liberal nor am I just out to blame Bush. That's silly and childish. Surely you can be more objective?
How can you possibly deny that Bush didn't send us over a cliff? I wasn't just born yesterday and I was quite awake during the Reagan and Clinton years as well. Bush's ' SUV' tax credit was not geared toward any SUV and all businesses did benefit from that. the SUV rebate only applied to the larger SUV's that weighed something like 7 thousand pounds ( can't remember exactly)- trucks like Hummers. I purchased a smaller Honda SUV that did not qualify under Bush's plan. I thought it was truly nuts for me to buy a super gas guzzling monster and it didn't take a PhD to know why he encouraged such irresponsible consumerism. The prior/existing tax code regarding depreciation for company vehicles only allowed 25 percent depreciation but Bush's plan increased that to 75 percent and in some cases ( for the most wealthy) the full amount could be depreciated IF you purchased one of those giant monsters. That's a very large difference and again, illustrates another one of the many Bush gifts that drove us over the cliff and benefited the wealthy and the Big Corps.

I'm defensive? Instead of accepting that the video is of actual hearings that actually show republicans repeatedly asking for regulations - when the MSM repeatedly claim they want no regulations...with accusations of "silly" and "childish". Typical of those who have no real argument to start name calling.

I repeatedly stated that Bush was culpable (definition is....Deserving of blame or censure as being wrong, evil, improper, or injurious) so, even if you weren't born yesterday, you appear to be deliberately attempting to misconstrue what I wrote and the intent of what I wrote.

And I'll just copy and paste this again....The so called SUV tax credit you are referencing was for Small Business Owners - a tax credit that tax preparers and accountants were able to manipulate for their clients. And it began in - surprise - 1997 and was extended under Bush - so once again, your blaming of Bush for all we face today is simply not justified. And I'll add this...For the 2010 tax year, the deduction was still in place.........

When, in one of your posts, you actually admit that changes in policies from administration to administration always have consequences that are not anticipated or wanted and that both parties share equal responsibility for the policies, then I'll believe that you aren't a "liberal".......
http://www.section179.org/section_179_vehicle_deductions.html

Your posting have all "just" blamed Bush. At what point do you acknowledge that any blame should be placed on anyone else?

You're right and wrong..... When Clinton tried this, his efforts did NOT destroy families, companies and the stock market but when Bush legislated to subsidize mortgage lending to folks that could not qualify otherwise, THEN he destroyed the economy. I saw it coming and it was a brilliant maneuver. Watch Bush's speech video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNqQx7sjoS8&feature=related this speech is FULL of double messages. Look, I'm no economist or psychic but when I heard this speech the first time, I KNEW we were in trouble and that's why I didn't buy a home or a Hummer- which Bush also encouraged and even gave Hummer buyers a 60 percent tax deduction on that vehicle.

Excuse me, but here we go again with the same old "Bush" did it all...unfortunately, you are incorrect. In 1995, the CRA was enhanced and mortgage lenders like Country Wide grew tremendously and the sub prime lending increased. Between 1995 and 2003, over $1 trillion in bad loans were issued by the banks based upon the standards imposed under the Clinton Administration. These standards were no longer that the Banks were held accountable for the process by which they determined to whom to lend - but that they were to be evaluated by how much they lent to low income and high risk credit seekers.

Again, was Bush culpable? Yes. But was he fully responsible? No. The Congress voted several times to increase the FHA limits on the dollar amount of loans; this combined with the near elimination of the requirement to put any money down at closing and the lowered lending standards begun in the Clinton Administration all contributed the market crash. As did all the "fancy financing" that came about as a means for the lenders to meet the requirements of lending to a government mandated number of low income high risk minority families. And then, of course, there was the bundling of this high risk loans in the market.

The so called SUV tax credit you are referencing was for Small Business Owners only - a tax credit that tax preparers and accountants were able to manipulate for their clients. And it began in - surprise - 1997 and was extended under Bush - so once again, your blaming of Bush for all we face today is simply not justified.

Yeah, and what did that lying and stealing get them? Filthy rich on ill-gotten gain, sure, that's obvious. And thousands and thousands of unemployed, underemployed, robbed, cheated, very very pissed off people who are now in their face, all united to put an end to The Big Ripoff.

I sure hope it's over but sadly, I'm a cynic who lost faith in my country years ago- actually in 2002. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that these mighty courageous and very intelligent protesters restored my faith in the American people.

The law that was passed to allow more people to buy homes IS NOT THE REASON THIS HAPPENED. The law states that lenders should not be careless as to give out high-risk mortgages that borrowers couldn't pay back, because it would threaten the survival of their companies, but they did it anyway. The LENDERS are at fault above anyone else. They KNEW what they were doing and did it ON PURPOSE. The government DIDN'T tell lenders to be careless and give out high-risk mortgages to anyone. People love to say that, though.

Swiss Miss you are quite wrong. If the banks are forced by the government to lend money to high risk individuals - who have to put little to nothing down on the mortgage - who is it who is taking the "risk"? Before the Reinvestment Act, there were government programs - such as the 235 Program to help folks buy homes. The government paid half the mortgage payment and effectively half the interest rate. The homeowner would eventually take over the whole payment due to increased income and ability to pay or could refinance the home and pay back half of the equity to the government. If their income never rose, the original terms remained the same - this was only one of the programs.

With the re-investment act, those plans went by the way side and were replaced with high risk loans to those low income folks. The government and groups like Acorn filed lawsuits against banks who did not make enough of these high risk loans.

In fact, the Obama Administration is still at this - you can look at Detroit Mich for examples of this - banks are being threatened with lawsuits for alleged discrimination and are then - in settlements meant to avoid lengthy court battles, being forced to lend to low income high risk folks, put money into "revitalization" projects and so on.

If you truly care about what is going on, educate yourself. These facts are easily seen in the court documents available on line. When you read a document for yourself, there is no left or right spin on it. You might want to try it before you tell others - who don't agree with your assessment that this is all Bush's fault - that they are the ones in the wrong.

I didn't say those who bought homes above their means don't have any fault. But, I think the ones who were paying their mortgages and then stopped because of falling home values are a very small percentage. Wall Street and the lending institutions are NUMBER ONE at fault for what happened. They lied to a lot of people about getting mortgages, paying them back, refinancing, etc. Those people (the ones who got the bad mortgages) should have used caution, but the people who caused the mess are the ones who flat out committed fraud on purpose.

Then it sounds like we agree on that point. And I have no problem crediting a lion share of the blame to the institutions. This is why I have been instituting my very own personal boycott of them. I left the big banks for local credit unions a while ago. I cut up every credit card to ensure the big guys aren't making money by charging me interest. The great thing about accepting responsibility for the financial issues I had in the past, was that I realized that I was responsible for and completely capable of fixing it!

Those who are stopping paying their mortgage because they don't want to pay are a small percentage. I consider what they are doing absolutely terrible. They are trivializing the plight of those who are really suffering.

The problem for many, including myself, is that if I cut up my credit cards, then my fico score goes down. Unfortunately, I need the credit and it's a lot of work every single month trying to keep my accounts active enough that they don't close them, trying to charge just a small amount and NOT pay them off like I used to. THREE of my credit cards were cancelled due to the simple fact that I paid off my balance each month. Nice, eh? I try to do the right and responsible thing and I get screwed.

I am leaving my bank next week to join a local credit union. I will refinance my mortgage with the credit union as soon as I can. I haven't had any credit cards for years, so at least I haven't been paying the banks any money from them.

I agree that it's terrible to stop paying your mortgage just because home values have gone down. If one loses their job, has huge medical debt because of a major illness or injury, or has been screwed over like someone else described, etc., though, then I don't blame the person who stops paying their mortgage.

Before I bought my house recently, I had put an offer on another house a street over. That house was a foreclosure house that had been sitting on the market for a long time. I liked it but wanted to see other houses before making a decision. Two weeks after I first saw it, I decided to put an offer on it. The day before I did that, the bank that owned it dropped the price $3,000. I put in an offer slightly below the new asking price (from the advice of my real estate agent). No one had put an offer in before I did.... or at least the bank didn't accept any if they did. I put the offer in on a Friday. On Monday, the bank told my agent that 2 other offers had come in over the weekend, and they wanted me to offer my highest and best. So, my agent said to offer the original asking price, and I did. The bank claimed that I lost the bidding and that someone else got the house.

Funny.... a couple of months later, my agent called the bank's agent who was handling the sale of the house to see if someone actually did buy it. The bank claimed that the other two offers fell through and wondered if I was still interested. She told the bank that I already had purchased another house.

So, that tells me that the bank was playing games (and my intuition told me that after they told me my bid didn't win). I guess if they want to continue playing games and doing that, then they deserve to lose money and pay taxes on houses that no one lives in when they could've sold them. Dumb asses.

Swiss, very interesting that you mention this because this is exactly what they planned. In fact, those houses have been bought and paid for at least twice by now so they are just sitting on them as investments, waiting for the market to improve. In some cases, they are not even sure which bank actually owns the house! They are not losing any money. Remember when the lenders were evicting people and just leaving houses sitting there with food in the frig, swimming pools full of algae, etc... for months? They didn't care because they had already made the lion's share and then some ( including the bail out money).

Did you consider that the offer that was accepted perhaps led to a home inspection which found things that the buyer didn't want to take on? Or that maybe the second offer, that was not accepted, like you had moved on to another home?

To assume that this was the bank playing games is well....too easy in this particular case.

IF however, they had decided that since three of you were interested, they would raise the price even higher than it was before it was dropped $3000, THEN you could say the bank was playing games.

Um.... there was nothing wrong with the house.... maybe some very minor things that the bank may have required to be fixed, but there was absolutely nothing visible. The previous owners had remodeled most of the house.

My bank even played games with me..... making me spend thousands to hire a licensed contractor to fix all kinds of petty shit that I could've fixed myself and planned to fix as soon as I had possession of the house. The same thing happened to my friend. Her bank made her paint a door that she was planning to replace.... so she had to spend time and money painting a frickin' door that she ended up throwing in the trash.

Perfect example- do business in a crumby manner, and you'll get crumby results. There is a good way to do business, there are many who don't do it that way. But that doesn't make ALL business bad. Good for you!

I agree not all businesses are bad. Never said that. But the banks have been bad asses and continue to be. Mine put me through hell to get my mortgage, even though I make plenty of money, have good credit and a good credit score, etc. Now, the banks have gone to the other end of the spectrum, because of the big mess they've caused (along with mortgage companies and a few others). And, of course, as usual, the common citizen is the one who has to pay for their bullshit.

I agree with you Maroon about individual responsibility and I was one of the wiser folks who didn't get hoodwinked by Bush's american dream initiative. However, I almost did! After all, when your president is telling you that he's going to make it possible for you to purchase a home even though this was never in your dreams, then it's a bit like tempting a starving dog with a piece of meat and then kicking it in his mouth when he takes it. We should have leaders that we can trust and we should be able to question their authority when we want to without being jailed ( another one of Bush's tactics when someone questioned his motives).

I hear you, it would be nice if we could trust what politicians and lenders say. But the fact is they lie.

I am glad you guys didn't fall for that. And I have no problem speaking up about these folks lies.

I personally am standing up against the corporate practices I feel are wrong by refusing to ever use debt again. I have been lied to and mistreated enough. It was my fault for falling for it, and I have paid my price. Now the banks will pay theirs, because I wont be paying them interest or bank fees. And yes I have moved my accounts to local credit unions.

You simply need to understand the entire system is rigged from voter disenfranchisement now in over 20states to banking and finance ....the poor guys in Washington are enslaved by the masters who bought them.... Think justice in supreme court.... Nope most bought n paid for so we all need to hit the streets and stay there until oligarchs get that they overplayed their hand this time. There are more of us. It's math

Voter Disenfranchisement in over 20 states? How so? Requiring people to prove they are a citizen of this country and a resident of the polling place is "disenfranchisement"? Sorry, but I am part of the 99% and don't agree with you here. And please don't give me the tired old "but some folks can't get their birth certificate"; there are ways to get around that built into the laws and if there aren't, build those into the laws. But, I forgot that this movement supports "open borders"...again, something that I, as part of the 99% do not support.

And those "poor guys" in DC who are "enslaved"? Why are they enslaved? Because they chose to accept bribes in the form of election funding. Again, I am part of the 99% and believe these protests should be on the grounds of the State and Federal buildings not in the public parks and on the streets of our cities and towns.

OWSNY, you are an inspiration. I was very worried about you last night, thinking about what might happen this morning. I kept thinking what will happen to the movement. I called NY, signed the petition, and hoped the solution would turn out as it did. Am so proud to be an American at this time in history. Will be sitting in Harrisburg in support and extremely proud of all of you, and those that showed up to support you.

Thank you to the OWS protestors, one and all! We love you! Power to the 99%. Get neoliberals like Clinton and Obama out of public office and the neocons too. In fact, let's end this career politician stuff for good. In fact, let's end capitalism while we're at it! We support you 150% and congratulations to you for dodging Bloomberg's eviction attempt with grace and aplomb!

Well, I thought that you actually got it at first when you realized that the politicians are the ones who should actually be being protested....but then, you threw it your real goal...overthrowing capitalism...and you lost me.

Well Done!!!!....thanks to everyone who phoned/txt/emailed the mayors office!!!!!...Looking forward to joining you all tomorrow! in NY!!...I heard November 15th people are planning to withdraw all of their money from big banks....anyone else hear about that?...again...Congratulations!!!

WE must use the momentum of this victory to strengthen our organization, and begin to institute CONSTRUCTIVE WORKS (Ghandi).

We have won this battle, but it is simply a signal to them that they actually have to prepare for WAR. and WAR they will.

More GA's, more NYC Occupations (BROOKLYN/QUEENS/BRONX/STATEN STAND UP). Ideally we need a GA for each NYC congressional district.

Let US not forget that there are MORE people out of work, MORE people without healthcare, MORE people with student debt, MORE Oppression EVERYDAY. We are not simply fighting what has passed, but what continues to pass.

Since the eviction at OWS has only been postponed, perhaps the establishment realized that the should simply not announce the eviction before they plan to do it.

A system/network should be set up where a FLASH MOB can immediately be convened in the chance that the police/city unexpectedly come with buses to evict the protestors. 1000s of people would flood the area, disrupt the action taking place, and create an outer wall of solidarity to defend the nexus being threatened.

This is an EMERGENCY ONLY TACTIC designed to upset the balance of power in the midst of an immediate threat, and cannot be used lightly.

So the rules of society for the average citizen does not apply to OWS? What about the 99% who is just trying make ends meet and actually live in the area that you are occupying. Have you ever considered the effects on them of your protests?

So you are saying times cannot change and do not change? As an FYI, downtown is among the fastest growing residential neighborhoods in NYC. And when New York was founded it was also a residential neighborhood, but I guess according to you, sdcheung, it should noty have been even back then, or?

I certainly believe in the right to freedom of speech and of assembly, however, I do not think it is fair that your freedom speech should take precedence over any other individuals right. Additionally, you do not even abide to your own collective rules posted on this very website . Promises has been made to keep disturbances down at night out of the respect for the "community" in which the movement is supposedly living. Yet, the movement is consistently breaking or not adhering to its very own rules. Hence, it gets increasingly difficult to believe in your stated message since the movement does not even hold up its own promises.

Then the idea is to reimburse those venders who can't hold their festivals because the encampment is in the only place large enough for them to set up their trucks for the income they lost? After all, that is only fair right?

i think the idea is more to channel the funds for food for the occupation to the vendors so that they can still support their families while the occupation is taking place and build a relationship to the occupation.

Vendors are down on wall st. full time year round with food and nik-naks - for the office workers, city staff, and tourists. They are poor, usually immigrants, who are trying to feed their families. Often they are targeted for exorbitant tickets by the city, police and have to pay unfair prices for their vending licensees since the city refuses to reform the system. Point being the are a central part of the 99%.

With the nik-nak/tourist vendors we need OWS t-shirts, etc. that they can continue to sell to tourists rather than little wall st. bulls and I <3 nyc t-shirts. I deally the profit would be split with the vendors and OWS.

It certainly did not seem as if you were working together with the community over the last few days. Disturbance levels has steadily increased, in particular last night.

I certainly believe in freedom of speech and assembly, but it must also respect the citizens of the community in which it wishes to assemble which I fail to see is the case in this very instance. A key cornerstone of this movement is supposedly building a community and at the moment it is aggravating the very community in which it operates.

If the message is important enough, it should not matter where you assemble, right?

that being said, a movement cannot foresee the spontaneous actions of individuals or a crowd. As this develops daily the challenges that arise, including the one you have mentioned, it requires deeper structural foundations, self-discipline, and compassion. Being in the heart of wall st. is surely not the most hospitable environment for organizing, but the grievances of the people in this movement are rooted there. This is the reality we are struggling to come to terms with, politically, spiritually, and logistically.

Please have faith in the people to work this out with you and all our neighbors, and please do not be afraid to come down and voice your opinions at the general assemblies so that people on the ground can hear. we are not all on the forums everyday, and the words should really come from you to put a face to these concerns.

ghost1love - I truly appreciate your response and I share in some of the values that the movement stands for. However, the methods I somewhat disagree with, and it certainly was not the spontaneous few over the last few days but rather the spontaneous majority. If the movement has recognized that Wall St. is not the most hospitable environment, why does it not move to more hospitable environment one might wonder?

I am sure the think-tank of this movement is well aware that none of the organizations it is targeting resides or operates on or around Wall Street, but is spread around the country at other locations. Hence it is nothing but a PR attempt by a movement, which is severely and negatively affecting the community that it has occupied.

I have been down and discussed with several of the supposed supporters and more often than not been heckled and not taken serious. I am big believer in the democratic process, this is simply not it. The majority of individuals I have met with in your movement admits they did not vote in the last election. To me, they have then elected not to do their fair share of democratic society and accordingly does not have the right complain. By not voting they have elected not to participate. The argument of no candidates to vote for is flawed at so many levels, for one you can always vote blank. At least then you respect the democratic process.

Swede - thank you for your compassion. Wall St. is symbolic which is why it started there. As the movement grows, and the message gains footing, it is not out of the realm of possibilities that it may move. It may also stay. It may also shrink to a core group, but not go away completely, as people move to other spots of occupation across the city. I still recommend voicing yourself at the G.A. rather than individuals.

All that I can suggest, as I have to other skeptical sympathizers, is to have patience, faith, and to do good works for your fellow humans. While some may be waiting for us to leave Wall St., the poor, the voiceless, the compassionate, and the oppressed have been waiting for this moment for a long long time. We want the best for it, including the best possible new relationships we can build with all people who sympathize with we. you.

The issue of not voting does not hold true for all of those demonstrating, nor even the majority. However, we know from history that the existence of democratic mechanisms does not produce a functioning, inclusive, egalitarian democratic society. At any rate, our democracy, in all its various manifestations and aspects, has long fallen into an ignorant sleep that allowed things to get so bad. We, particularly the young, are waking up to a new day, and discovering what democracy needs to look like for a sustainable future in the US and Globally.

hey! the sun just came out!

anyways thanks for the conversation, I pray that peace will prevail, a constructive, participatory peace, that is a testament of our ability to work together compassionately.

they will now be planning a diversion, an israeli attack on iran or a HAARP induced quakes in USA to declare a state of emergency, that we are terrorists financed by the enemy, and then they will use draconian powers to clear the park and evict occupywallst. any thing to maintain their tyrannical power. that's the truth we must face down on the road to freedom.

In 2010 the 1% paid over a third of of America's income tax, The top 5% paid well over half of America's income tax! When you consider that just under half of americans with income pay NO income tax, it sounds rather FAIR to me.

that only shows how much money they make comparing to the rest of us. the numbers mean NOT THAT THEY PAY A LOT, BUT THAT THEY MAKE A LOT. we make so little that we simply can't contribute more. if someone makes $12.000 how much does he/she contribute compared to a person who makes $12.000.000.000? it takes like 10 000 000 low-income people or more (i am counting in my head) to equal that amount! of one rich person!

Excellent point! It depends on what you define as 'a Lot'. The top 1% account for one fifth of the income in America, which is a significant portion, but then they invest trillions in America, hire millions of people, and still pay 38% of our bills.

when i was making $50K+(3-5years ago), I paid $14K+ in taxes, gave something to charities, paid my college tuition (and so i have no school debt now), and whatever was left was enough for me to live on and i was doing OK. and I was happy. and even managed to save a little.

and every time i went to have a pedicure done i gave my chinese pedicurist $10 tip. and that felt good. i was generous.

now, i am offered 2/3 for doing the same job. everything is 1/3 more expensive and it is becoming difficult to make ends meet for what i make. before i felt independent and i could contribute a little to the society. now, charity is what the rich do, since only they can afford it, and they are seen in the good light because they can give or invest or whatever. and i am reduced to a friggin' hippie.

the chinese woman has no clients, because her clients can't afford a damn pedicure.

What is unreasonable? It is natural that the rare talent be compensated for their ability. This is true in government, education, sports, and business.

They must hire and fire, that is business.

The purpose of a corporation is to increase the wealth of the investors, which include millions of private citizens that have pension plans, retirement plans, and ordinary people trying to save for retirement.

Agree and disagree. Talent should be compensated. And unfortunately many corporations feel their sole purpose is to increase the wealth of their investors. But if that is their only purpose they are really missing somethings.

Money is made by serving others and providing them with something they deem valuable. If I create a widget, people will only purchase it if it brings value to their life. I therefore am serving them by creating the widget. At the same time if my widgets become so popular, that my company grows and I am able to employ more and more people- i am now serving not only those whose purchase my products, but also those I employ. Yes profits will surely come after that- but the core value of any company should be service. And its a nice perk the serving others in this manner often leads to earning money.

Its not that way for all companies. Making a profit is part of doing business responsibly. But if that is your "sole"purpose of a business its missing out on a huge opportunity.

Altruism has nothing to do with it. When we serve others in this manner, we get so many benefits including profits. I also agree over staffing hurts, but not just investors. It hurts EVERYONE, the employees who loss job security, the consumers who end up paying more for the products and services, as well as the investors.

Rare talent.... you consider being a CEO rare talent.... one who makes millions upon millions? Really? And athletes are justified to make millions upon millions, for playing sports.... and celebrities for making movies/TV? It's rare talent to lie and cheat and steal, so that one can make millions and millions?

The pay scale of many is skewed in a BIG way. You already said, "Don't raise my taxes." I bet I know where you sit.

So, their talent that you speak of should garner millions upon millions in salaries and millions upon millions in bonuses while helping to bankrupt the nation? Their talent is so exclusive that they should be entitled to that, while the workers who are the ones actually providing most of the work for their companies make squat?

And you didn't answer about the athletes and celebrities who make millions upon millions.

Socialism is part of our government, much in the same way capitalism is. Neither are bad, as long as a balance is maintained. Personally, I like the fact that I can work hard, capitalize on getting a nice car, and drive it on my socialist-installed roads, while drinking tap water which was cleaned by socialist-installed purification systems.

I don't know why socialism has suddenly become this big scary tag word for anything that they disagree with, when every city of every state in this country has socialist programs in place that no one seems to mind.

[EDIT: Also, on point? Obama's about as socialist as George W. Bush, considering he's done almost the exact same things but presented in a different way. About the only thing that could be defined as specifically socialist is "Obamacare", but considering it expects nothing from taxes and everything from your personal pocket, Republicans should like it more than Democrats should.]

What is unreasonable? How about making the American taxpayer provide the money to those corporations under the premise of "too big to fail," lay off people anyway, then still take your unreduced "rare talent compensation" on top of that? How's that for unreasonable for you?

I totally agree, but that is the fault of our representatives and the voters that elected them...not the corporations. At one point, the big banks were FORCED to take bailouts. Some did not want to but they were actually forced to take them.

At one point. But not at all points. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying corporations are solely to blame in this scenario; on the contrary, Congress has and will always have the power of the purse, which means that they ultimately dictate what happens in the United States financial realm above any and all other entities, corporate or governmental. However, insofar as the government is concerned, one can't help but wonder: would they have been bailed out if lobbying was restricted for corporations? Would they have gotten the same amount in bailouts if corporations weren't donating to personal and partisan campaigns? It's impossible to say, given that wasn't the situation, but even in government, corporate influence is still there.

My point as to it being unreasonable, however, is that even when they received money due to being supposedly near bankruptcy, their focus was not on alleviating mortgages or ensuring employment at the expense of their bonuses and/or salaries, their focus was -solely- on their salaries and how to make those stay at their pre-existing level while still keeping the doors open.

You want to talk about being a "job creator"? Then suffer a pay cut and keep your employees in work. That's the big kicker for me: seeing people proclaim themselves as the arbiters of employment, and then cut employees when faced with the potential of not getting that lucrative "talent compensation".

[EDIT: Also, I have a real problem with calling their pay "talent compensation", when a fair number of them inherit their companies through nepotism and not by being the best man for the job. Just saying.]

Lets not be naive here. Politicians will takes positions that helps them get elected. If that means voting to increase social programs that they know we cannot afford, they continue to do so. If that means saying illegal aliens are a problem, but attacking state governments that try to stop the hiring of illegals, they will do so. If that means giving subsidies, kick backs, and contracts to corporations to buy their support, well they are all over that!

Is this what would be defined as corrupt, telling the people what they want, but then doing another? Don't get me wrong, I believe politicians are corrupt as well; in fact, I've made a few posts on this website pointing out examples: elected judges who take bribes to fill jails (since jails receive funding dependant on their need), appointee judges receiving their current pay at the time of retirement for life and then getting another federal job to double dip into the federal kitty, and politicians not having to pay into Medicare or SSI but being in a position to make determinations about it.

But, giving them to corporations unbaded? When's the last time you gave someone money without first being asked? The relationship between politicians and corporations is a very mutually beneficial one to both parties involved; if it wasn't, politicians and/or parties would refuse corporate money, and corporations wouldn't offer it in the first place.

[EDIT: Insofar as corruption by saying one thing, doing another, would that constitute promising, say, a satisfactory relationship between company and consumer and instead garnering wholeheartedly deserved customer dissatisfaction? Because, you know, I haven't handled cases like that in ever...]

We apear to mostly agree. Maybe where I differ is that I expect politicians to take the higher road. I elected them to look out for my best interests. Which includes not prostituting themselves to corporations.

For the most part, yes, we agree. Politicians should take the high road in all things, including political contributions. Unfortunately, due to the clout politicians carry with creating or striking down commerce and finance laws, corporations will always feel the draw to pay towards politicians and expect favorable results for those donations. (For example, did you know Congress has actually spent money trying to make people eat more popcorn? True story; effort was made by a senator who represented a state which chiefly exported corn.)

Personally, I feel the best solution while still giving corporations a voice in elections (because they do still deserve to have a voice; they are affected by politicians, after all) is to eliminate their ability to donate unlimited money to partisan groups and instead let them stick with hard money contributions directly to the campaigner, which has always been limited to a set amount whether it's a corporation or an individual person doing the donating.

As for lobbyists, who knows there. I'm not one to eliminate free speech, and they have just as much right to petition the government as any individual does: their livelihood and the livelihood of all their employees depends on it. But lobbyists are definitely a tricky beast that need to be reduced somehow.

Suppose that every day, ten people go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do.

The ten drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.” Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get their “fair share”?

They realised that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everyone’s share, then the fifth and the sixth would each end up being paid to drink their beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each drinker’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:

The fifth person, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the drinkers began to compare their savings.

“I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth. She pointed to the tenth man, “but he got $10!” “Yes, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth. “I only saved a dollar too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I did” “That’s true!!” shouted the seventh. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks” “Wait a minute,” yelled the first four in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor”

The nine drinkers surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore.

Nice story. Where have I heard it before? Oh, well, it doesn't matter whether you use "fancy restaurant" or "bar" or anything, because it doesn't change the fact that your story is flawed.

First of all, if you're implying that people with no jobs should pay taxes to help lessen the burden on the rich, I'd be happy to hear how you're proposing to do that since they have no income. I mean, I know 97% of us have refrigerators (the horror!), but I'm not exactly sure what that would fetch on the open market, considering it belongs to my landlord.

Second, so you're suggesting that the tenth man has more of a right to a tax break than those that might be making the decision between keeping their lights on, putting food on the table, or putting gas in the car? Newsflash, boss: Most of us don't view 400k a year after paying for food and utilities a tight budget. In fact, in order for you to make that 400k, you've likely managed costs, be it in quality of services (cheaper freight will still get it there, after all), amount of employees (too much labor, too many paychecks going out), or employee wages (too much on the paychecks going out, not enough to come back home with). So, while you're making enough to 'scrape by', odds are you're either: sending people home with just enough to live paycheck to paycheck, and that's assuming an emergency doesn't come up (and it always does); or, you're sending prospective employees home without a job (hello, first four people!).

Third and finally, again, you get taxed the most because you take the most home. Let's look at your numbers one more time, champ. Now, granted, I'm just pulling these numbers off the top of my head and in no way do they represent accurate pay scales in every scenario. But let's assume that they're actually paying taxes:

The first four pay nothing (because they have no job, obviously; and if you think someone actually -wants- to have no source of income in a money-driven society, you've clearly lost your freaking head). The fifth, making about 12k a year, would pay $120, leaving him 11.72k for expenses. The sixth, making about 30k a year, would pay $900, leaving him 29.1k for expenses. The seventh, making 50k, would pay 3.5k a year, leaving 46.5k. Eighth, making 75k a year, pays 9k, leaving 66k. Ninth, making 100k a year, pays 18k, comes home with 82k. The tenth, assuming a flat amount of 1,000,000 (since we're talking 'protesting millionaires' here), would pay 590,000, leaving 410,000. (And that's not even counting his non-taxed income, such as direct dividends, tax loopholes, and so forth.)

Now, since we've looked at the math in a more logical amount and we can see just how much bank they're taking home after "paying for the drinks", you want to tell me just how unjust it is to raise taxes as a person taking home 410k? If you're having trouble living off that amount of money, even if taxes were raised to where you were only taking home 200k a year, you need a severe shock to your system and a dose of reality in your life.

So, let's cut the garbage, shall we? You may have to sell off your house in the Hamptons and take the kids out of private school, but you would in -no- way suffer with 200k instead of 410k.

"For those of you who agree with me, you are right. For those of you who don't, you are wrong." That's what that sentence means. I'm a man of evidence, krdrj. And the evidence has shown you full well that the more your wealth increases, you continue to take home more after taxes. You may be taxed more, this is true; you may be carrying the largest weight of taxes, but after the toll has been paid? You're still sitting pretty with six figures if you're in the 1%.

And even if we increased that tax to 80%, you're still in six figures. We'd have to tax you 90.001% until you actually saw five figures for an after-taxes income, and that would still be enough to live off of; trust me, many employees of corporations have lived off far less than 99k a year.

But, as I said, I'm a man of evidence. If you have some, deliver it. But I'm willing to wager that since you're resorting to pre-printed and intentionally deceptive (again, lawyer; I can smell the stench of mislead a mile away) stories to make your point, and then trying to condescend to me when I'm calling you on your story's deception, I'm willing to wager your evidence is non-existent.

On the other hand, however, we do have my points: your billing of $100 represents the 100% of sum taxes paid, their dollar amount representing the percentages. Just by applying a sample pay scale (based loosely off the pay scales of myself and others close to me in my life, in case you didn't figure that out), I pointed out how there's more money coming to the tenth man after taxes than all the others combined, without even counting money that person might be getting from non-taxables, tax loopholes, and so forth.

If that slips you up enough that your only response is, "You don't get it and you never will," I'm more than happy to let that constitute your apology for not being able to formulate your own words.

don't you think it would be much fairer if the top 20% would earn one fifth of the income, invest trillions as you say, hire millions and pay 38% of bills. I am sure that people would just love to be the ones to contribute in such a way.
Do not try and sell the people this neoliberal trickle down crap economics that has proved so blatantly wrong over the last 30 years. People are not dumb

GE was the largest lobbying group in DC at $6.8 million a QUARTER
GE's CEO doubled his salary to $15.2 million from the previous year
GE's PROFIT was $14.2 billion
GE's FEDERAL TAX REFUND was $3.2 billion

I don't know where you get your figures from, but I don't know anyone who works and who doesn't pay taxes. My mom didn't make much money at all when she worked (for a public university)..... poverty-level wages.... and she paid taxes, and now she pays taxes anytime she draws money out of her retirement account.... 20% taxes. I just don't buy your argument.

And, for those who barely make any money, the REAL issue is that there needs to be BETTER PAYING jobs in order for them to be able to pay taxes. People love to overlook that.

I know people who own small businesses and who make a very nice living for themselves, and they write off so many things that they end up not paying anything in taxes. One of my friends even brags about doing so. Perhaps you should be going after them.

The numbers I stated come from the IRS. Regarding jobs, there will be better paying jobs out there once our government gets out of the way. Obamacare's cost is a big reason employer's are hesitant to hire people. Oppressive regulations are another.

It is not so simple.... It is also where the money goes... Back to subsidies no bid contracts military to support and protect industries courts to support and maintain monopolies and all the tax deductions for lobbyists and 501c3 donations for now super pacs to continue and expand the oligarch hold. Just hurts your head stay out and keep going!

While that is true you have to consider that the top 5% made the vast majority of the income. They could not have made that money unless they in some way finessed it away from the 99%. Wall Street and big business many be smart enough to steal all of the assets from the 99%, but how much smarts does it take to pull the release cord on a guillotine?

KnightBlnc, I'm sorry but your reply doesn't get the job done. To simply quote "pre-Reagan" tax rates leaves out too much of the story. Reagan had one tax cut early in his eight years - that lowered the top rates but it also closed loopholes that had allowed those taxed at that rate to pay nowhere near 50% of their income. There were two more tax changes that actually raised taxes. It also leaves out the out of control inflation rate, the 20 % interest rate that was in place in "pre-Reagan" years under the Carter Administration; it leaves out the 7% unemployment rate (1980) when Carter left office as compared to the 5% unemployment rate when Reagan left office (and the interest rate which had dropped to 10%) .

You say we need to raise the Capital Gains tax but neglect to point out at which point that tax is raised....on everyone or on those making more than $100,000 a year? $200,000? Why does this matter? Because we have a small amount of investments - on occasion, we need to cash out some of this money to pay for an emergency - like last year when our Heat Pump went out - the replacement cost was $5,000 so we cashed out $5000 of our investments. We paid little to no capital gains on that money due to our income level (well below $100,000) - if that Capital Gains tax is raised on everyone we would pay 15% on cashing out that money....even though we take that money out of our income every month to cover our retirement and these current emergencies (and were already taxed on that income when we earned it).

Perhaps you can see why your answer just isn't good enough. Many of you also call for a Financial Transaction Tax but again, you don't explain who you want to pay that tax. A blanket across the board tax is going to hit everyone who gets a paycheck and uses a bank; everyone who has a 401K or a savings account at a bank. It effectively taxes and re - taxes money - taxed when it is deposited, taxed when it is withdrawn, taxed on when it is transferred from account, or to another bank....

This "movement" needs to define itself and its demands or it will NOT have my support.

Concerned: I really wonder what you are concerned about. You want the Occupy Wall Street movement does not have to run to define themselves, they have said time and time again they are in the process of formulating their plan. They do not have to allow themselves to be pinned down by sound bites or new clips. They are being ultra-democratic and allowing everyone their say.

But I digress. I use pre-Reagan a starting point but to be honest retooling the tax code is just the start, we also need to end our insane trade policies.

It is simply not enough to say that there should be a Financial Transaction Tax - for what if it is instituted and the 99% still get screwed? Many of the 99% have 410k's and investments true? Many of those who have lost their jobs are now living on those 401K's - should they also be caught by that FTT?

Same with the Capital Gains tax - many of those 99% who are now living off their 401k's due to a job loss pay little or no Capital Gains at the current rates. If this rate is increased across the board then they will all be hit by it....

You want broad support to continue with this movement, it Will Be Necessary to define certain demands so that the repercussions of those demands being met will be understood by all.

I am sorry to disagree again. But that is playing party politics - I repeat that this movement should protest the Federal, Local and State Governments who are in the pockets of the rich. Until they are forced to stop accepting the lobbying and the bribery then nothing will change....

I have a job, the problem is that it don't pay shit! There are plenty of jobs out there. The whole issue is the distribution of money. I work my ass off, and for what? Some fat prick who just sits and watches us sweat to make him money!!!

Yep. Some people don't get that. Jobs not being available isn't the only problem. The fact that too many jobs don't pay a living wage is an even bigger problem. They say it's so easy to make a living making minimum wage. Then I'd like to see them try it.

Many of those who went today joined our friends before heading to work such as myself. You can work and still feel that this economy is not working for you. It is easy to paint this movement as full of lazy complainers but if you go down and see for yourself you will see that that is simply not true.

Check your local fast food restaurant, i know the army navy and marines increased their enlistment age to 39. Problem is most people want 100k jobs with little to no experience. Most these people that are protesting are wondering why their 60k liberal arts degree can't get them a good job and bitch about 8 dollars a hour. Well maybe you should of tried harder. You think the CEO of City Bank has an associates degree in art. And i bet he worked is ass off for his position, but these protesters probably don't know anything about that. Most of these protesters are jealous immature people who have no clue what they are talking about and are further ruining America.

GENERIC REPLY TO TROLLS - OWS is not about taking down the government, wallstreet, or capitalism. It's about making those in the government, big business, and banking industries - who engage in financial and economic activities which are harmful to the general public - accountable. It's about changing the way corporations affect our government so that the negative affects as per the first statement are not allowable, and so the voice of the people to be heard in the democratic process is not dependent on how much money you earn. OWS is not specifically affiliated with any political party, as these issues do not affect one political party or another, but all Americans. OWS protesters are not a bunch of hippies, but demographically come from all religions, educational backgrounds, ages, races, genders, and political affiliations. The system is broken - we cannot appeal to it to fix itself. We cannot be foolish enough to think that corporations and other institutions will police themselves left to their own devices. OWS is leaderless, and decisions are based on those who vote at the general assembly disscussions held in each city. Please educate yourselves.

If Americans weren't so lazy to do manual labor I'm know there is plenty of work for you. The problem with most Americans today is they want everything handed to them and forget how hard of our fore fathers had it and even our great grandparents had it during the depression. If you dont have money then do something about it instead on sitting on your butts just waiting.

"blah blah blah forget how hard of our fore fathers had it and even our great grandparents had it during the depression, blah blah blah"

Holy shit, did Ann Coulter take over your brain? You sound just like that stupid bitch!

The Great Depression happened and continued because just like today, the government got soft and did nothing to reign in runaway corporate and bankster greed, until the public demanded a fix, and the politicians grew balls and made a fix happen. Ergo, we're living a repeat of history, got that? You're not helping!

I don't think a lot of people are against manual labor. The problem is (one of the problems) that a lot of that work pays minimum wage, and it's really hard to support oneself, let alone a family, on minimum wage. Sure, it's better than nothing for a short period of time, but to work for minimum wage long-term isn't going to solve anything. Companies need to anty up and start paying living wages.

It's based upon REAL needs, but it is completely unfair that companies pay those who actually do most of the work shit wages, while their top execs and managers make a ton of money and can afford umpteen houses, cars, luxury vacations, etc. when they don't do much of the work.

You make it sound like the middle class people are the only ones guilty of buying those items you mention.... while the assholes at the top get to buy way more than that while screwing the middle class.

Why would you want 'minimum wage' to be considered a living wage? Minimum wage is just that, a minimum businesses must pay. It helps kids and those just entering the work force get a start. It should take a little time and experience/education to earn a 'living wage'.

If you aren't earning a 'living wage', then don't start a family. If you lose your 'living wage' job, then get two minimum wage jobs to compensate for awhile.

Problem is most available jobs are minimum wage, including hard working labor jobs and positions where you do the work of 3 people. The amount of jobs that give a livable income are so limited and the experience you need to even get slightly noticed are so great that you see people lining up to work at places like McDonalds.

So many of these jobs paying such a small amount give people low income so they have less to spend. The less they have to spend the tighter their budget. The tighter their budget the less they buy causing alot of other businesses to struggle with sales. This in-turn makes for less demand in fields effected by the drop in sales.

This trend will only continue with some being lucky enough to work in a field with high demand but most finding tougher and tougher times. Those lucky people will be pressured to do more and more work as others move to do their job in hopes for a better life. Anyway.. we can see a trend.. quality of life will continue to drop for most, we will see a bigger and bigger gap between upper and lower class all because of greed.

This movement is a struggle to fight against this greed and corruption. So for all of you who say "shut up and work" get a fucking clue.

So, someone just out of college should earn minimum wage, because they have no experience in the workforce? The problem with a low minimum wage is that a lot of companies don't value their employees and will give them minimum wage, instead of a living wage. Not everyone making minimum wage is a student.

So many keep saying "get any job, even if it's minimum wage". That's just not realistic.

It mostly depends on what your degree is in whether you will need to take a minimum wage position. Some degrees have a higher demand, therefore value, than others. If there is little demand for your degree, expect to make minimum wage starting out.

If you do not think the company you are working for values your contribution, find another job.

If there are no jobs in your area...MOVE.

Bottom line is, America does not OWE you a living wage. You must EARN it by making reasonable life decisions. Such as, get a degree that has a value, do not start a family that you cannot afford, and be willing to adapt.

you guys are so stupid cant understand this is new world order means new way of slavery 99 persent work hard 1 persent on top take everythings and in past use to bring slaves by ships and work for free now days make their country so bad they run to become slave for that 1 persent so fuck you all think other wise

How can that be true if you have the opportunity to start your own local business and be your own boss? Do odd jobs for now, and save some cash, then start a business. Be your own boss- if you do it without debt you wont be a slave to anyone.

And whose fault is that Ray? Is it just Wall Street Corporations or is it the political system itself?

Aug. 6: Massachusetts State police shut down the stand of a 12-year-old refugee from Fukushima, Japan, who was selling green tea he brought with him when he and his family evacuated after the tsunami.

Aug. 1: Police officers in Coralville, Iowa, ordered at least three sets of children to quit selling lemonade during the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa unless they first got a vendor’s permit and a health inspection. This is the first known example of a coordinated set of shutdowns at a single time.

July 19: In McAllen, Texas, authorities shut down a girl’s lemonade stand for failing to obtain a food permit and threatened a grandmother who protested with a $50 fine.

July 17: Police in Appleton, Wis., inform children that despite legally selling lemonade and cookies in their front yard during an annual city festival for the past several years, a new city ordinance bans these sales. The reason? To protect licensed vendors from competition. How’s that for a great example of how America works?

July 15: Cops in Midway, Ga., shut down a lemonade stand some children were running in their own front yard, saying the kids had to obtain a peddler’s license and a food license and pay $50 per day for a temporary business permit.

June 16: A county inspector in Maryland closes kids’ lemonade stand and fines parents $500 for violating county law.

June 10: The Philadelphia Department of Health shuts down a lemonade stand operated by a cancer charity because it lacked a necessary permit and — get this — didn’t install a hand-washing station.

March 7: Officials in Hazelwood, Mo., said a cookie stand in a family’s driveway violated local ordinances and ordered an end to the Girl Scouts cookie sale.

Feb. 26: Georgia police demanded the closure of a Girl Scout cookie stand until the girls obtained a peddler’s permit.

Feb. 26: Savannah, Ga., officials determined that city ordinances require an end to a 40-year tradition of Girl Scouts selling cookies outside the historic home of the organization’s founder.

You are picketing and protesting the wrong place - this needs to be a protest against local governments and the things going on above. This sends a real message to the Federal Government that we will no longer stand still while they erode our basic rights to earn a living.

It is the politicians who have crawled into the pockets of the various businesses - and not just Wall Street - who need to be protested.

you guys dont understand me the reality is we are slave to hole system and only you can win and get back tha country is force other wise you be back in first place you started and no way they let you have pice of pie unless you sweep all and start new stablishment with new law this is not hard to understand

Reverse Citizens United. Make clear Corporations are not people in the Constitution. (Constitutional Amendment)

Separately Elect the U.S. Attorney General, in non-partisan race: i.e., not appointed by the President. This will make sure the people have a lawyer protecting their interests vis-a-vis the Gov’t (most state-level AGs are separately elected from the Gov). (Constitutional Amendment)

Conscript Presidential Military Power to instigate wars and military actions abroad, without Congressional authorization. (Constitutional Amendment)

International Human Rights Treaties Enforcement: Create a Private Right of Action to enforce International Treaties domestically, or alternatively, providing that the Gov’t must abide by them, enforceable by the U.S. AG perhaps. (Con. Amend)

Natural Resource Usage Tax & Energy Policy: Tax the use of natural resources where ever they come from, and use this to create a zero-oil/coal energy policy (along with huge investment in solar, which is already at market readiness, and on-grid in Nevada). (Fed Law).

Lobbyist Prohibition: Have a prohibition on former Congress people (and perhaps Gov’t employees) becoming Lobbyist for 20 years (eliminate influence peddling). (Fed law)

WTO Accountability: Make the WTO have a public process component, transparency, and accountability. (United Nations)

Create Standing for Private Citizens/NGOs at World Court: International treaties (except WTO treaties) are not enforceable, except by gov’t against gov’t, and they don’t do that. We need a real Int’l legal & enforcement mechanism to enforce International Human Rights treaties. (United Nations)

Let's use this energy to get our jobs back from illegal aliens who drove down the cost of wages because of corporate greed. They hire them to make more money cause of cheap labor. What's wrong with e verify so we can take back our jobs and higher wages. They are also why are public schools are broke and why almost every city runs a deficit. Wake up people these are our jobs and our country. Illegals help corporation's make more money then they should. The voice is here, so let's make it happen e verify should be a must ... The greed is why they don't want to use it.

You guys are idiots. Well, 99% of you are. Your views are simplistic and your motives are immature. Your need to scapegoat trumps common sense. Unfortunately, you're missing the bigger picture which is ironic since you seem to think everyone else does. Its sad. And funny that you have so much in common with the 'redneck' Tea Party'ers you get off on ridiculing. Enjoy wasting yours and everyone else's time. When you and other equally useless and unhelpful peopke finish, then we can get serious about having practical and meaningful dialogue about changing this nation's course.

I'm no politician nor do I calim to understand how our government works, but when a family works their asses off and has nothing to show for it, I'd say there are some major issues here. A household with 2 incomes can't even make ends meet? What's wrong with this picture?

I don't think anyone is asking for free money, just fair distribution. What about the fat lazy fuckers in major corps. that just sit and collect all the wealth while the rest of america is fighting over scraps?

But what "ends" are they trying to meet? That is the real question - if that family has a large flat screen tv and computer and blue ray player in every bedroom, and their family room are they really "poor"? If that family goes out to dinner 3 times a week instead of staying home and cooking meals that cost much less, is that family really poor? If they get their hair cut colored and styled every six weeks and their pedis and their mani's done every week, is that family really "poor"?

You are a complete douche bag and waste of a human being. Don't come on here to spew your venom you racist prick. Go outside and stand in the street and close your eyes. No one will miss you I promise.

" If we dont stop the special interests, Wall Street Banksters, and lobbyist, this country will cease as a Republic and Democracy as our founding fathers had intended it."
I am paraphrasing a little know quote by Warren Beatty way back in 2000 when he was considering running for President . I added the "wall street banksters" line to update. Point is he was so right over 11 years ago.

Cheers to all who are in this fight. We in the rest of the country love you guys.

Where is the great protest music like the 60s? Has this generation artists been bought out, or fear reprisals? Are they cowards? Hope I am wrong but their silence is deafening. "Something happening Here"

Yup....that's the ticket, protest music. That should solve all problems. While we're at it, maybe a good slogan or two? Nice ripoff of a cliched phrase: "their silence is deafening".
C'mon...we need concrete solutions not this crap.
Hilarious!